Kroger - An Examination

Most of us have shopped at a Kroger store and King Soopers is the closest grocery store to me, so this has been the obvious next step in my research.  From the Kroger website, here are the brands that they operate:

The Kroger Co. operates grocery retail stores under the following banners:

• Supermarkets - Kroger, Ralphs, Dillons, Smith's, King Soopers, Fry's, QFC, City Market, Owen's, Jay C, Pay Less, Baker's, Gerbes, Scott's Food & Pharmacy
• Multi-department stores - Fred Meyer
• Dillons Marketplace, Fry's Marketplace, Kroger Marketplace, Smith's Marketplace
• Price-impact warehouse stores - Food 4 Less, Foods Co

They also operate convenience stores:

	States Represented
Kwik Shop, Inc.	Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska
Loaf N' Jug	Colorado, New Mexico, Nebraska, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Wyoming
Quik Stop Markets, Inc.	California, Nevada
Tom Thumb Food Stores	Florida, Alabama
Turkey Hill Minit Markets	Pennsylvania, Indiana, Ohio
Smith's Express                                                                                               Utah     And Jewelry Stores:

With 342 fine jewelry stores in 33 states, The Kroger Co. ranks as the fourth-largest jewelry retailer in the nation. The stores operate under the following banners:

• Barclay Jewelers
• Fred Meyer Jewelers
• Fox Jewelers
• Littman Jewelers

Kroger has a plethora of "Kroger brand" products.  About 40% of these products are manufactured by Kroger and the remaining 60% are manufactured by others under "strict specifications" from Kroger.  They use a 3-tiered marketing strategy:

Kroger brand products are produced and sold in three quality tiers. This strategy fills the needs of all our customers in the various markets where we operate. All tiers are value priced to offer shoppers big savings over other premium, national and economy brand items.

Private Selection® is our premium quality brand is designed to meet or beat "gourmet" or "upscale" national or regional brands.

Banner brands (such as Kroger®, Ralphs®, King Soopers®), which represent the majority of the 11,000 items stocked in our stores, are designed to be equal to or better than the national brand.

Our Value™ brand is designed to deliver good quality at a very affordable price.

Unfortunately, it is very difficult to find information on who they buy from (as it is for most grocery stores), but in our King Soopers, they have started doing a "Colorado Proud" section in produce.  These products are from farms in Colorado and they are usually marked really well.  That makes it really easy for me to look up the farm/manufacturer and decide whether I want to buy from them!  They also tend to sell a lot of California and Oregon produce - I can usually find all USA grown stuff, which is great!  I will continue to purchase these items from my local King Soopers in the hopes that they will move more and more in this direction.  If your Kroger store isn't currently doing this, contact your store manager and put in a request!

Skin and Hair Care

A major project of mine over the past year has been to find safe and preferably sustainable skin and hair care products.  Luckily, it's easier to find information on cosmetics than on clothing, so I've definitely found a few products that I love!

My search began with these criteria:

- safe ingredients (I gauged this by looking at "skin deep" on www.ewg.org.  Love that database)

- easily accessible (I wasn't going to pay huge shipping costs, so it either had to be available locally or on Amazon with Prime elegibility!)

- gets good reviews (a lot of organic/safe products are crappy...trust me, I've tried many of them.  Either they are cakey, smell horrible or don't do what they purport to do)

- fair price (I don't expect these products to be cheap, but they needn't be exorbitant)

- fair trade certified if possible!

After searching for awhile, I found this brand that matched ALL of my criteria with flying colors:

Acure Organics

I love love love this brand (click on the link to see more about the company, their ingredients and mission).  They are fair trade certified and get some of the best safety rankings on EWG's website.  The kicker: they are on amazon and get RAVE reviews on there.  I decided to try a few things and see for myself:

Argan Oil (from Morocco)
I was looking for a night cream - my skin is so dry and I needed something to replenish it overnight.  Most night creams are pretty awful in terms of ingredients, so I was excited to find this product!  Acure also makes a specific night cream, but based on reviews for this oil, I wanted to try it first.  I have loved it!  This is the first week in years where I haven't had to pick dry skin off of my face!  It has a very subtle smell and soaks in by the time I'm done brushing my teeth (so I don't get oil on my pillow).  My face has never been softer or more hydrated - and it's only $14 on Amazon :).  I use about 6 drops a night, so this bottle is going to last forever!

Lemongrass Shampoo and Conditioner
This stuff is awesome.  Lathers well (most organic brands don't) and it smells so, so good!  My hair stays nice and soft - I only wash it once every two days.  All of their shampoos and conditioners get great reviews and for $12, you can't go wrong!  Be aware that only certain bottles are prime eligible - I bought the shampoo (which was not prime), but it was only $2 shipping.

I am excited to try more from Acure now that I've seen how great their products are.  The only product I hope they make in the future is a day cream with SPF.

Shampoo for Kids

You already know that I love Trukid sunscreen and now I also love Trukid Silly Shampoo!  At first I wasn't sure if $8.99 on Amazon for one bottle was going to be too pricey, but we have had the same two bottles (one for each of my boys) since Christmas and they are still going strong.  True, my boys don't have much hair...but a little of this product goes a long way!   Trukid is not fair trade certified, but they use responsible packaging, their products are biodegradable and non-toxic, they get a great safety rating on EWG and only use essential oils for scents in their products.  The products and company were started by a Mom of 6 kids :).

Foundation

I use Bare Escentuals and have for many years.  Their stuff isn't cheap, but it lasts for a long time and I have never had a problem with breakouts or irritation.  I was hesitant to look it up...for fear that I would find out it was bad and have to switch!  Luckily, the products that I use get great safety ratings.  I only use their powder foundation (only to cover blemishes and eye circles), mineral veil and "warmth" on my cheeks.  Those are all ok, but stay away from any of their "buxom" products or basically anything that "lengthens", "plumps" or "minimizes".  They all have looooots of junk in them :).  As for the company, I haven't been able to find much on them in terms of where they get/make their products.  They are not fair trade, so the research is ongoing to see if I can find a better alternative.

My mascara is almost running out, so that will be the next search.  Let me know if you've found anything you love :).