Kroger Expands Home Chef Meal Kit Offerings To New Stores

Kroger has announced that Home Chef meal kits will now be available in 500 additional Kroger stores across the country.

“Kroger continues to redefine the customer experience and provide new ways to shop for, prep and cook meals through exciting brick-and-mortar and digital experiences,” Robert Clark, Kroger’s senior vice president of merchandising, said in a press release. “Last October, Kroger introduced Home Chef retail meal kits, and we’re now expanding to add the easy-to-prepare recipes to hundreds of new locations, providing convenient access to the meal solution at more than 700 stores. We look forward to the continued growth of Home Chef in 2019 through expansion and new products.”

Last May, Kroger announced a merger with Home Chef, the country’s largest private meal kit company. The initial transaction price was $200 million, with future earnout payments of up to $500 million over five years, dependent on certain milestones.

“Home Chef is proud to continue our evolution toward becoming more than a meal kit delivery brand,” said Pat Vihtelic, Home Chef’s founder and CEO. “With continued innovation and personalization, we are providing customers with more ways to enjoy fresh, delicious meals that align with their individual tastes.”

Home Chef retail meal kits are currently available in Kroger’s Family of Stores across multiple markets, including Illinois (Mariano’s), Kentucky (Kroger), Michigan (Kroger), Ohio (Kroger, Cincinnati) and Wisconsin (Pick ‘n Save and Metro Market). By the end of February, customers will also be able to purchase Home Chef retail meal kits in Arizona (Fry’s and Smith’s), California (Ralphs); Colorado (King Soopers); Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming (Smith’s), Indiana (Kroger), Ohio (Kroger, Columbus), Oregon and Washington (Fred Meyer and QFC); Tennessee (Kroger, Nashville) and Texas (Kroger).

In addition, Home Chef announced the launch of a customizable meal kit feature for online orders, so that customers can easily change and upgrade recipe ingredients.