Home Chef hits massive annual sales goal

Home Chef, the Kroger-owned meal delivery service with meal kits sold exclusively inside its 2,000 stores, has reached $1 billion in annual sales, according to Kroger.

The Chicago-based deliverer merged with the Cincinnati-based grocer in 2018. The service saw an increase in use during the pandemic, when families were eating more at home. During a Q&A with Store Brands, Home Chef discussed how the service helped fill in for cooking fatigue during the pandemic.

For Kroger, the company sees Home Chef as a perfect fit for its “Fresh for Everyone” mission and the company has been exploring how to better grow the product in its 2,200 stores. The chain piloted a shopper research study over the summer looking at how the Home Chef kits performed inside brick-and-mortar locations.

“Kroger's commitment to being Fresh for Everyone is underscored by our Home Chef products, which help us bring families together in the kitchen with meal options for any occasion," said Dan De La Rosa, Kroger's group vice president of fresh merchandising. "We continue to strategically expand Home Chef offerings across our family of companies. Whether it's meal kits, or heat-and-eat and ready-to-cook solutions — which are available via subscription, in-store, pickup or delivery — it's safe to say that Home Chef has mealtime covered."

Home Chef offers more than 500 products across a variety of categories, including meal kits, heat-and-eat meals, ready-to-eat products, seasonal meals and more, and based on feedback from shoppers and the shopper insights study will expand into new products, Kroger said.