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!