Kroger’s Home Chef studies the store

Home Chef, the meal-delivery service owned by Kroger, has partnered with an analytics company to measure its in-store sales in Kroger stores.

The Chicago-based company delivers meal kits to members at home via its mobile app and website but also sells some kits exclusively in Kroger’s 2,000 stores that shoppers can buy, bring home and cook at home.

With more cooking at home during the pandemic, Home Chef had seen an increase in its home-delivery business, but shoppers returning to stores, the company could be looking to learn more about its in-store products. Store Brands spoke with Rich DeNardis, chief revenue officer at Home Chef, about its pandemic boom.

Looking at how those kits grab shoppers in stores, Home Chef is piloting a measurement program with Retail Aware, a shopper insights company also headquartered in Chicago.

"We're excited to launch the pilot program with Retail Aware," said Mitch Esparza, Director of Retail Business Operations at Home Chef. "At Home Chef, we're committed to inspiring and enabling people to cook through simple, delicious and convenient meals, and Retail Aware's solution will help us learn about shoppers' behaviors in real-time and ensure people can find Home Chef meals in their local grocery store."

Retail Aware empowers decisions backed by real-time data to improve campaign metrics, increase sales, monitor stockouts, and ensure execution, all from a user friendly technology platform. Leveraging Retail Aware's patent-pending technology, brands and retailers can close feedback loops to gain real-time visibility into store operations.

"We are proud to work with Home Chef to help drive on-shelf availability," Retail Aware founder and CEO Keith Fix said. "As Retail Aware continues its growth, our mission has remained the same - to provide real-time product and shopper insights that improve brand performance and the consumer's retail experience."