Costco sells millions of pumpkin pies every year — and the recipe has apparently been the same since 1987 (COST)

The company sold 5.3 million pies in 2015, according to Costco Connection , the monthly magazine for Costco members.
Those pies required 3.4 million pumpkins to make.
Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

It's pumpkin pie season at Costco .

And, if sales figures from past years are any indication, that means Costco members are about to carve into millions of pumpkin pies.

According to a 2016 edition of Costco Connection , the warehouse chain sold a staggering 5.3 million pumpkin pies in 2015. Keep in mind that Costco only offers up the pies from September through December.

A total of 1.75 million of those pumpkin pies were purchased in the three days running up to Thanksgiving.

Costco Connection reported that making those 5.3 million pies required 1.1 million gallon cans of pureed pumpkins. That's approximately 3.4 million pumpkins. The company shares its sales projections with pumpkin farmers in the spring, so that growers can calculate how many fields they need to plant.

Costco declined to comment on how many pies it has sold in the years since 2015 or how many pies it anticipates selling this year.

The recipe also calls for an undisclosed, pre-mixed blend of dry ingredients and spices, whole eggs, and water. The pumpkin pie doesn't include preservatives. All of the pies are 3.8 pounds, according to the Costco Connection.

The Costco Connection report credited the pie's recipe to Sue McConnaha, the warehouse chain's VP of bakery operations. As of the time of that article, the recipe hadn't changed since the pie first hit shelves in 1987, although the pies have grown from a 10-inch diameter to a 12-inch diameter.

And Costco's pumpkin pie has proved to be a perennial favorite among some members . This year, fans of the holiday staple have taken to social media to praise the pie.

NOW WATCH: These pumpkin ice cream sandwiches are over the top