Category: I-L

In a move that bucks the current trend in grocers of optimizing and consolidating Private Brand portfolios Cincinnati based grocer Kroger has rolled out three low-priced Private Brands to replace its aging Kroger Value private label.

CEO Rodney McMullen told a crowd of several hundred at Kroger’s annual meeting this past Thursday morning at Music Hall that the retailer has launched the three new brands– Psst, Check This Out and Heritage Farm – on hundreds of products. Heritage Farm replaces the Kroger Value brand name for fresh products now. Psst is used for shelf stable foods, and Check This Out will cover non-food items.

“These brands all are designed to reflect the good quality and excellent value customers expect from Kroger,” McMullen told the audience.

Kroger president Mike Ellis said on a conference call last week after the company reported earnings that the new brands are succeeding.

“The new design calls out to customers with attractive, uplifting packaging, and the response so far has been really terrific,” he said. “The name better reflects the inherent quality of the brand, and we are already seeing positive acceptance from our customers.”

Although the naming of these brands is certainly clever and the design a dramatic improvement from Kroger Value the creation of three brands at this tier seems to unnecessarily fragment the portfolio. This is a move designed to solve merchandising needs not consumer needs.

SOURCE: Cincinnati Business Courier

Cincinnati based grocer Kroger and Corporate Brands Diverse Supplier Business Interchange was held December 12^th in Erlanger, Ohio. The event included more than 40 current and existing vendors who each had a chance to meet with purchasing and manufacturing executives from the retailer.

According to a story from Channel 9 WCPO in Cincinnati “Often times it’s about knowing people, having relationships,” said Denise Thomas, director of corporate supplier diversity at Kroger

One of the newest areas of strategic emphasis is expanding its network of Private Brand suppliers. So, Thomas said Kroger used its most recent Business Interchange event to connect vendors with Private Brand buyers. The event was modeled on the Toyota Opportunity Exchange, which drew 300 people to the Duke Energy Convention Center in November and is credited with producing more than $100 million in new contracts for minority vendors. Thomas likes the event because it allows vendors to develop relationships with buyers.

SOURCE: WCPO