Kroger’s private brand push draws media, investment analysts’ attention

Last week, The Kroger Co., which offers more than 30,000 store brand SKUs, emphasized that it has rolled out 1,000 new private brand food and household items in the past 18 months.

“Our brands sold a record-setting 8.2 billion units in 2016, which equates to customers choosing to add 1.25 million of our exclusive products to their shopping carts every day,” Gil Phipps, Kroger’s vice president of Our Brands, said in a statement.

Yesterday, a feature article on Cincinnati.com explored the growth of Kroger’s private brands while interviewing local shoppers who buy them, noting that “if Kroger’s private label business was its own company, it would land at about No. 127 on the Fortune 500 — just behind corporations Duke Energy and U.S. Bank but ahead of Sears Holdings (including Kmart stores), Starbucks and Southwest Airlines.”

“Wall Street analysts say Kroger has been cutting prices on its Kroger-branded products, from sparkling water to pickles in selected markets, to protect market share where rivals are looking to move in,” stated the article titled "The Simple Truth: Private Selection, Other Kroger Brands Drive Sales."

Customers interviewed for the article noted that they buy Kroger’s private brands to save money, try new foods, stock up on staples, and eat both healthfully and cost-effectively.