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Kroger acquires Home Chef for $200M

74 points by chotachetan 8y ago

evanriley 8y ago
I'm always surprised there aren't more kits like what you would find in Blue Apron/Plated/Home Chef/etc in grocery stores. I would buy A LOT more, and probably even overpay because of convenience if I could walk into my local Harris Teeter/Krogers/Food Lion and just pick up a 3 meal/2 person box with most of what I need.
- ghaff 8y ago
  Given the amount of semi-prepared food (chopped up veggies and so forth) that most supermarkets already stock, it's surprising how slow most of them have been to jump on this bandwagon. I have a pretty well-stocked pantry at home, but there are lots of times I'd be willing to cook something up quickly if I could just swing by the store and pick up a couple of meal kits. My problem with the mail order kits is that I have to plan the week before and I have to commit to multiple meals over the course of a week, neither of which are really a fit for me.
  - Shivetya 8y ago
    I have noticed a distinct improvement and selection in recent years if not just the past six months. I too am surprised at how stores haven't made the leap. There seems to be resistance to combine the items and instead they want customers to visit each department separately. This can work if the store develops a kiosk or such which gives customers suggestions and quick path to the selections. Good signage could path customers quickly through the store without the appearance of too much diversion. Perhaps Kroger realized that to break the dominance of each department within the storm that a 3rd party was needed
    - maxerickson 8y ago
      I think it is just a tough needle to thread. They can't charge all that much of a premium over unprepared foods and then they have to balance demand and waste and so on.
- Itaxpica 8y ago
  I’ve seen occasional store-branded ones at supermarkets in upstate NY, so it looks like the tide is at least starting to shift. I agree with you that it’s surprising it didn’t happen sooner, Blue Apron has been around for years now.
  - ghaff 8y ago
    Frankly, the typical supermarket probably already has most of the pieces to assemble--perhaps with the addition of some spices and other add-ons like salad toppings. There are tons of marinated kabob sticks and the like, pre-made salads, chopped veggies for stir fries, etc. This is more prepared than a lot of meal kits are but, for a lot of scenarios, that may be a feature rather than a bug. The fact that it's probably easier to get 75% prepped meals at a supermarket rather than shipped to you may be an advantage. One of the common complaints about meal kits is that they can still be fairly time consuming. I know that's one reason I don't use them. If I'm going to cook a full meal, it's really not that hard for me to just do it from the base ingredients.
- naner 8y ago
  I've seen meal kits in Publix (in the meat dept) I'd be surprised if other stores didn't do this as well.
- mbreese 8y ago
  The Kroger in my area already has two options for this. When you walk in, you can choose a 2 person box that is all ready to go. They normally have 2-3 options available. The other option is more akin to the frozen meals-ready-to-heat (like those from Bertolli). These are stored in a frozen case where you have 8-10 different options. You can get a pre-measured serving or mix/match by the pound. Granted, this is a very new store in the Kroger home of Cincinnati and used for a lot of testing, but it's something they have been working on. The problem for these bigger companies is that they are big companies. What works for large, urban markets doesn't work for their more rural stores. So finding the mix of services can be hard, especially when you don't have the floor space to devote to new products. Also, integrating these types of products into your existing distribution network can be a challenge. I've been impressed though by how much these companies still do try to innovate in response to competition. For example, when Amazon bought Whole Foods and opened up Prime delivery of groceries in our area, Kroger within weeks started to offer their own 2-hour delivery service. But again, this isn't a service that would be practical to offer across their entire footprint.
  - tedmiston 8y ago
    Hello from Cincinnati :) This sounds like the Newport Kroger I frequent as well. I've been really happy with the pilots they've done there too as far as the one-step kits and the frozen case. What's your take on the Prep+Pared meal kits?
    - mbreese 8y ago
      We’re near the Kroger in Oakley. It’s strange the mix of technology different stores have. One store near us (Hyde Park) has the equipment to effectively scan items into your cart as you go to pay without a checkout line, but doesn’t have the new food kits. As far as the kits, I don’t think we’ve tried them. My family has been pretty happy with Hello Fresh, so we haven’t tried the Kroger kits. The thing I have found particularly difficult with meal kits is how they handle kids. It can be hard to expand palettes and cooking styles, but still have something that two adults and two kids will still want to eat (let alone be able to make it fast).
- koolba 8y ago
  Free business idea: A store dedicated to exactly this. Imagine instead of many different, individually packaged, products, you have one (or maybe a handful) of pre-packaged meals for one or two people. The retail space and checkout would be insanely efficient as you'd just grab and go. You'd have the green angle too as there wouldn't be any excess packaging to keep the food fresh nor carbon emissions from all the individual deliveries. Just standard refrigerators and pictures of happy patrons walking home with their meal kits. The recurring subscription model, i.e. the holy grail of high valuations, could be added as well. Either through the usual $X/period gets you Y meals or maybe just a discount ($Z/month to get Q% off). Or taking it to the next level, imagine a meal kit vending machine. The owner would stock it each day (say around 3pm) and customers could grab their own meals with a quick swipe of their card. Same idea as the store but reducing the retail space from a mini store to a couple square feet.
  - dboreham 8y ago
    I think you described Mark's and Spencer food stores.
    - te_chris 8y ago
      Was going to say, sounds somewhat like M&S
    - Willwhatley 8y ago
      Are their only sites in Hong Kong and Macau? This is the site linked from the only location I could find in Google Maps. http://global.marksandspencer.com/hk/store-locator/ http://global.marksandspencer.com/hk/store-locator/
      - ghaff 8y ago
        They're all over the UK at least.
        Willwhatley 8y ago
- joezydeco 8y ago
  My local Mariano's (a Chicago/Milwaukee chain now owned by Kroger's) was trying just this the other week. They had some kits (maybe they were HomeKits) in a cooler in the deli section. Maybe it was a test.
  - taco_emoji 8y ago
    Total nitpick but Mariano's is not in Milwaukee (where I live), although for all I know the very similar Metro Market stores we have could just be an identical model with different branding (since they're both owned by Kroger).
    - joezydeco 8y ago
      Oof. My bad. Yeah, Mariano's is an offshoot of Roundy's. It was Bob Mariano getting his revenge on the Dominick's chain in Chicago. The Metro markets are the Mariano's-alike in Wisconsin, I think?
- niftich 8y ago
  Most higher-end grocery stores in the US sell trays in which the raw, unfrozen ingredients are assembled and require baking -- a sort of upmarket TV dinner. Some sell kits that have some groupings of the ingredients packaged separately, because they need to be cooked separately or in different ways. I'm not a market researcher, but I'm guessing these existing products are packaged in this way for convenience, to appeal to people who want a complete meal with little effort. I can imagine that the thinking goes, if the customer went to the grocery store, they either want to browse and select the ingredients from the entire store themselves -- y'know, the entire reason you stock quality ingredients and furnished the store in an appealing way -- or they're looking for something more prepared that they can grab and go. The now-hip contemporary subscription meal kit is a box of raw ingredients packaged separately, and there's a fair bit of effort that needs to be expended to prep and cook. The fact that it shows up at your door is great for convenience, but the fact that you have prep for 30 minutes isn't. Most meal kit companies have embraced the prep as an experience to be marketed, and that's smart -- clearly, people exist who will pay for the experience. But in this space, retention is low, and it's hard to be profitable because of the costs of logistics and assembly. Upmarket grocery stores are in a perfect position to make this style of product work, because they already have the logistics around ingredients figured out, and they have labor on hand in stores and in their distribution and prep centers. And, in theory, they're even cheaper to prepare than the meal trays they sell today. But it remains to be seen whether paying a hefty premium for a pre-selected box of raw ingredients at a grocery store will be a hit or an object of ridicule.
  - tedmiston 8y ago
    Kroger has an offering in at least 1 store as a pilot here like like what you described called one-step meal kits. There's definitely an upcharge but they're pretty good, very easy, healthier than TV dinners, and cheaper than getting takeout delivered. They also have a new offering that's a bunch of containers of frozen things like shrimp and potatoes where you can pay one price by the lb and mix and match across 10-15 different options. It's nice if you want a flexible portion size, just cooking for 1-2, etc.
    - nwilkens 8y ago
- blang 8y ago
  I believe QFC (part of Krogers) does this. At least i've seen signs for it, I've never used it though.
- rednerrus 8y ago
  Costco has teamed up with Blue Apron.
- gm-conspiracy 8y ago
  I am a Home Chef subscriber and have a Kroger that is literally a 7 minute drive from my house, but the quality of meat and produce at my local Kroger is much lower than what I can have delivered (many of the ingredients are not even sold at my local Kroger).
batbomb 8y ago
Kroger is also potentially gearing up for an Alibaba partnership as well that was reported earlier this year. I know rumors are still floating down to the store level on this (my father is a store manager)
awat 8y ago
Kroger seems to have some vision on technology implementation. I’ve been impressed with thier clicklist (online grocery pickup) here in Salt Lake City. Looking forward to having this available.
- nickpsecurity 8y ago
  They have no vision. They got it from overpaying for Harris Teeter who had a $5 online order service. They botched their implementation of it, too. Kroger is strictly top-down, workers-are-idiots management that has to buy its innovations from better-managed companies. People are quitting in droves in all areas of the store and management. Heck, local store has different workers every time I shop. Usually a sign of that. ;) My theory is the media isnt reporting on years of such practices since they're a big customer (advertiser).
  - frockington 8y ago
    By that logic McDonalds, Home Depot and Walmart would have been out of business decades ago. Local store turn over has zero indication of management.
    - nickpsecurity 8y ago
      It does when the employees leaving were high-performance workers saying they're leaving due to management. Those that left for Kroger's competitors say they're not as bad. Quick example from local Kroger: 1. They cut staff to almost nothing. On some holidays, there were 2 stockers visible in a store with 20 isles. Stuff is empty everywhere. Dept heads I interviewed said they get "no hours" and were told it was just "bad productivity." 2. Response from corporate office was to hire more managers to do the stocking. So, they think it's cheaper to have manager's do clerk work. Corporate people even come stock before audits. 3. Corporate office sends 10-20 people af a tine to "fix" stores with "process compliance," "policies," and so on. The workers say they re-explain the basics of their job like they're dumb and nitpick them over side jobs. Those that went to Walmart and Target said the new bosses mainly let them do their job. They also have staff for stocking. 4. Workers constantly generate ideas to improve stores. Customer satisfaction and sales go up. Corporate tells them to knock it off to follow "the Process" since it's what customers "want." Numbers go back down. Managers claim workers were at fault since the Process works. Like a cult. 5. Corporate controls everything remotely with many policies made by people with no experience. They control how things are laid out, what is stocked, in what order, how much, with what on a dolly, and so on. Workers are expected to be robots. If this process fails, it's the workers that failed. 6. Their tech is garbage, too. They buy a lot of overpriced stuff that doesnt work like the AI controlling registers. The supervisors do it better. I think the handhelds run SCO OpenServer for terminal stuff. Remember SCO? ;) 7. Currently, lots of their equipment is breaking at the nearby stores with them not replacing or fixing it. Workers are sharing stuff adding overhead. None of this happens at Publix or Costco. They invest in workers, treat them well, let them help innovate, reward them for good work, and so on. They've performed better in most metrics with low turnover. Kroger does the opposite. So, even good veterans are leaving since they're set up to fail every day and mistreated. The union benefits are the only reason veterans I interviewed that stayed were staying.
Itaxpica 8y ago
Home Chef is by far my favorite of the meal kits I’ve tried (and I’ve tried a lot) in terms of both variety and quality. Fingers crossed this is one of those “keep doing what you’re doing but now with the funds for greater scale and distribution” acquisitions and not one of those “steady degradation of service while the new owner plunders you for parts” acquisitions.
kolbe 8y ago
>And you can see why everyone’s diving in. As we’ve covered before: According to Nielsen research, “in the year ended 2017, in-store meal kits generated $154.6 million in sales, posting growth of more than 26% year-over-year. For context, total brick-and-mortar sales for center store edibles (grocery, dairy, frozen foods) dipped 0.1% last year to $374 billion.” So, "everyone's diving in" because meal kits are a rounding error to the other category?
- brogrammernot 8y ago
  No, they’re diving in because they want the early growth and infrastructure without the need to build it themselves. That “rounding error” can be seen in a different light, it’s an area of the market that is making significant progress YoY. This isn’t a play for the next year, it’s seeing the YoY growth of this vertical within their market and wanting to capitalize on that. The world is and has been moving towards “easier” and services that provide immediate gratification. In-store meal kits are right in that category. People don’t want to buy homes, cars or big ticket items anymore, there’s a culture of “leasing” because of the inconvenience that goes along with the maintenance/upkeep of those items. In a similar vein, lots of people view cooking “healthy” meals to be difficult (it’s not) but are willing to spend a little more to get a simple meal to cook that is either healthy or gives the illusion of being so. $200M is dirt cheap to acquire the talent, and all of the existing processes of the company. Add in the scale of someone like Kroger, and the price per unit they can acquire is going to be vastly cheaper then someone like Blue Apron or the various other meal kit startups. You end up placing these in their stores on endcaps and other areas where it’s only a bit more per person to buy a meal kit that’s marketed as “healthy” and they’re going to fly off the shelf. This is one acquisition that makes a ton of sense to me, and Kroger likely sees In-Store meal kits as continuing to grow tremendously YoY.
  - ghaff 8y ago
    >People don’t want to buy homes, cars or big ticket items anymore That's the perspective of a very specific demographic. And even in SV, there seems to be no shortage of people wanting to buy houses and any shortage of cars on the road. That said, there is a trend towards convenience which is one reason you see so much food that's been pre-prepped to various degrees (for a premium) in supermarkets. Adding full meal kits seems a very logical extension to that trend.
imroot 8y ago
I'm really not surprised by this at all. I know that Kroger was exploring a service like this last year, based on conversations that I had with someone from their legal team; they've had this in the Cincinnati area stores that I've been in recently (when I've been in that area) -- including their "flagship" Oakley store -- for at least the last six to eight months.
- chipperyman573 8y ago
  Why are you talking with their legal team, and what would they say that would lead you to believe they were exploring this service? Honestly wondering, I'm not doubting you.
mkirklions 8y ago
I did a study on Kroger, Costco, Walmart, Sams, Aldi, and Kroger was a scam. Constant "10/10$" or "ALWAYS LOW PRICE $2.49" on items that are cheaper at Costco, Walmart, and Aldi. As a note, Walmart won or was on par with Aldi. Aldi had a very limited selection despite having decent prices. Costco isnt worth shopping at for food item with few exceptions(canned food, which isnt very optimal in general). Anyway, my point is, I dont really trust Kroger. They overcharge for items and claim its cheap. They even have an 'organic' section of the store, which makes me think is all marketing. If anyone wants the link to the study, lmk, I avoid posting my link unless its relevant and wanted.
- Severian 8y ago
  I would be extremely interested in your study. I've long suspected Kroger of inflating prices, especially beef. Most times I've seen them at almost twice the price per lb. than other competing grocery stores in my area. Also, they seem to lack basic conveniences in stores that others have. One example is hand baskets. They do not place any around the store in case shoppers need to use one. Only at the front.
  - mkirklions 8y ago
    Here is the article http://efficiencyiseverything.com/grocer-comparison-aldi-walmart-costco-kroger/ http://efficiencyiseverything.com/grocer-comparison-aldi-wal... Thanks for the request because I noticed it wasnt on my /food/ page. I'm all about quality and price, quality for food seems pretty similar, price is easily measurable.
- testfoobar 8y ago
  Why isn't Costco worth shopping at for food items?
  - mkirklions 8y ago
    Its more expensive, I replied my link to another poster if you want to see the data. I cant speak for paper products, when I did that study it was walmart disposables only.
subpixel 8y ago
It was reported when it happened, but most New Yorkers are unaware that Kroger bought Murray's Cheese last year. They already have 400 or so standalone Murray's shops _inside_ Krogers around the country, selling the best cheese and 'specialty food' items (charcuterie, crackers, dips, etc.) you can get in the US. And every person behind the counter is trained by Murray's to know their stuff and be able to make expert recommendations. Murray's bake-at-home mac and cheese, only available at Kroger, sounds quite nice.
- stefantheard 8y ago
  I didn't know this, thank you for mentioning it. I shop at Kroger pretty often and have never considered buying cheese or charcuterie there since it seemed like it might be bad, guess I was quite a ways off the mark.
  - professorgerm 8y ago
    It varies by location, though. If you have a Kroger with a Murray's, the cheese selection will be much better than the average grocer. They're easy to recognize given all the Murray's branding they put up. Kroger with their standard cheese counter is pretty much what you'd expect.
- tedmiston 8y ago
  Ah, that makes sense. I wondered where the new fancy cheese mini shops came from.
tedmiston 8y ago
This makes me happy. I've tried a half dozen of the meal kit providers and Home Chef is hands down the highest quality in terms of ingredients and also providing recipes that are fancy enough that you don't say "I could have just made this myself" like everyone says about Blue Apron. I order irregularly but my experience with Home Chef has been incredible. I'm probably one of the few on HN who's tried Kroger's existing meal kits that have been piloted in a few stores around Cincinnati. They definitely target a different audience than the online meal kits, but being able to pick one up at the grocery store on a whim vs committing to buy + cook 3 kits in 1 week has been a game changer for me. I hope that they bring the Home Chef kits in store. Plus it's got to save a ton not having to ship the kits and not requiring the ice packs.

74 points by chotachetan 8y ago

I'm always surprised there aren't more kits like what you would find in Blue Apron/Plated/Home Chef/etc in grocery stores. I would buy A LOT more, and probably even overpay because of convenience if I could walk into my local Harris Teeter/Krogers/Food Lion and just pick up a 3 meal/2 person box with most of what I need.

ghaff 8y ago
Given the amount of semi-prepared food (chopped up veggies and so forth) that most supermarkets already stock, it's surprising how slow most of them have been to jump on this bandwagon. I have a pretty well-stocked pantry at home, but there are lots of times I'd be willing to cook something up quickly if I could just swing by the store and pick up a couple of meal kits. My problem with the mail order kits is that I have to plan the week before and I have to commit to multiple meals over the course of a week, neither of which are really a fit for me.
- Shivetya 8y ago
  I have noticed a distinct improvement and selection in recent years if not just the past six months. I too am surprised at how stores haven't made the leap. There seems to be resistance to combine the items and instead they want customers to visit each department separately. This can work if the store develops a kiosk or such which gives customers suggestions and quick path to the selections. Good signage could path customers quickly through the store without the appearance of too much diversion. Perhaps Kroger realized that to break the dominance of each department within the storm that a 3rd party was needed
  - maxerickson 8y ago
    I think it is just a tough needle to thread. They can't charge all that much of a premium over unprepared foods and then they have to balance demand and waste and so on.
Itaxpica 8y ago
I’ve seen occasional store-branded ones at supermarkets in upstate NY, so it looks like the tide is at least starting to shift. I agree with you that it’s surprising it didn’t happen sooner, Blue Apron has been around for years now.
- ghaff 8y ago
  Frankly, the typical supermarket probably already has most of the pieces to assemble--perhaps with the addition of some spices and other add-ons like salad toppings. There are tons of marinated kabob sticks and the like, pre-made salads, chopped veggies for stir fries, etc. This is more prepared than a lot of meal kits are but, for a lot of scenarios, that may be a feature rather than a bug. The fact that it's probably easier to get 75% prepped meals at a supermarket rather than shipped to you may be an advantage. One of the common complaints about meal kits is that they can still be fairly time consuming. I know that's one reason I don't use them. If I'm going to cook a full meal, it's really not that hard for me to just do it from the base ingredients.
naner 8y ago
I've seen meal kits in Publix (in the meat dept) I'd be surprised if other stores didn't do this as well.
mbreese 8y ago
The Kroger in my area already has two options for this. When you walk in, you can choose a 2 person box that is all ready to go. They normally have 2-3 options available. The other option is more akin to the frozen meals-ready-to-heat (like those from Bertolli). These are stored in a frozen case where you have 8-10 different options. You can get a pre-measured serving or mix/match by the pound. Granted, this is a very new store in the Kroger home of Cincinnati and used for a lot of testing, but it's something they have been working on. The problem for these bigger companies is that they are big companies. What works for large, urban markets doesn't work for their more rural stores. So finding the mix of services can be hard, especially when you don't have the floor space to devote to new products. Also, integrating these types of products into your existing distribution network can be a challenge. I've been impressed though by how much these companies still do try to innovate in response to competition. For example, when Amazon bought Whole Foods and opened up Prime delivery of groceries in our area, Kroger within weeks started to offer their own 2-hour delivery service. But again, this isn't a service that would be practical to offer across their entire footprint.
- tedmiston 8y ago
  Hello from Cincinnati :) This sounds like the Newport Kroger I frequent as well. I've been really happy with the pilots they've done there too as far as the one-step kits and the frozen case. What's your take on the Prep+Pared meal kits?
  - mbreese 8y ago
    We’re near the Kroger in Oakley. It’s strange the mix of technology different stores have. One store near us (Hyde Park) has the equipment to effectively scan items into your cart as you go to pay without a checkout line, but doesn’t have the new food kits. As far as the kits, I don’t think we’ve tried them. My family has been pretty happy with Hello Fresh, so we haven’t tried the Kroger kits. The thing I have found particularly difficult with meal kits is how they handle kids. It can be hard to expand palettes and cooking styles, but still have something that two adults and two kids will still want to eat (let alone be able to make it fast).
koolba 8y ago
Free business idea: A store dedicated to exactly this. Imagine instead of many different, individually packaged, products, you have one (or maybe a handful) of pre-packaged meals for one or two people. The retail space and checkout would be insanely efficient as you'd just grab and go. You'd have the green angle too as there wouldn't be any excess packaging to keep the food fresh nor carbon emissions from all the individual deliveries. Just standard refrigerators and pictures of happy patrons walking home with their meal kits. The recurring subscription model, i.e. the holy grail of high valuations, could be added as well. Either through the usual $X/period gets you Y meals or maybe just a discount ($Z/month to get Q% off). Or taking it to the next level, imagine a meal kit vending machine. The owner would stock it each day (say around 3pm) and customers could grab their own meals with a quick swipe of their card. Same idea as the store but reducing the retail space from a mini store to a couple square feet.
- dboreham 8y ago
  I think you described Mark's and Spencer food stores.
  - te_chris 8y ago
    Was going to say, sounds somewhat like M&S
  - Willwhatley 8y ago
    Are their only sites in Hong Kong and Macau? This is the site linked from the only location I could find in Google Maps. http://global.marksandspencer.com/hk/store-locator/ http://global.marksandspencer.com/hk/store-locator/
    - ghaff 8y ago
      They're all over the UK at least.
      - Willwhatley 8y ago
joezydeco 8y ago
My local Mariano's (a Chicago/Milwaukee chain now owned by Kroger's) was trying just this the other week. They had some kits (maybe they were HomeKits) in a cooler in the deli section. Maybe it was a test.
- taco_emoji 8y ago
  Total nitpick but Mariano's is not in Milwaukee (where I live), although for all I know the very similar Metro Market stores we have could just be an identical model with different branding (since they're both owned by Kroger).
  - joezydeco 8y ago
    Oof. My bad. Yeah, Mariano's is an offshoot of Roundy's. It was Bob Mariano getting his revenge on the Dominick's chain in Chicago. The Metro markets are the Mariano's-alike in Wisconsin, I think?
niftich 8y ago
Most higher-end grocery stores in the US sell trays in which the raw, unfrozen ingredients are assembled and require baking -- a sort of upmarket TV dinner. Some sell kits that have some groupings of the ingredients packaged separately, because they need to be cooked separately or in different ways. I'm not a market researcher, but I'm guessing these existing products are packaged in this way for convenience, to appeal to people who want a complete meal with little effort. I can imagine that the thinking goes, if the customer went to the grocery store, they either want to browse and select the ingredients from the entire store themselves -- y'know, the entire reason you stock quality ingredients and furnished the store in an appealing way -- or they're looking for something more prepared that they can grab and go. The now-hip contemporary subscription meal kit is a box of raw ingredients packaged separately, and there's a fair bit of effort that needs to be expended to prep and cook. The fact that it shows up at your door is great for convenience, but the fact that you have prep for 30 minutes isn't. Most meal kit companies have embraced the prep as an experience to be marketed, and that's smart -- clearly, people exist who will pay for the experience. But in this space, retention is low, and it's hard to be profitable because of the costs of logistics and assembly. Upmarket grocery stores are in a perfect position to make this style of product work, because they already have the logistics around ingredients figured out, and they have labor on hand in stores and in their distribution and prep centers. And, in theory, they're even cheaper to prepare than the meal trays they sell today. But it remains to be seen whether paying a hefty premium for a pre-selected box of raw ingredients at a grocery store will be a hit or an object of ridicule.
- tedmiston 8y ago
  Kroger has an offering in at least 1 store as a pilot here like like what you described called one-step meal kits. There's definitely an upcharge but they're pretty good, very easy, healthier than TV dinners, and cheaper than getting takeout delivered. They also have a new offering that's a bunch of containers of frozen things like shrimp and potatoes where you can pay one price by the lb and mix and match across 10-15 different options. It's nice if you want a flexible portion size, just cooking for 1-2, etc.
  - nwilkens 8y ago
blang 8y ago
I believe QFC (part of Krogers) does this. At least i've seen signs for it, I've never used it though.
rednerrus 8y ago
Costco has teamed up with Blue Apron.
gm-conspiracy 8y ago
I am a Home Chef subscriber and have a Kroger that is literally a 7 minute drive from my house, but the quality of meat and produce at my local Kroger is much lower than what I can have delivered (many of the ingredients are not even sold at my local Kroger).

batbomb 8y ago

Kroger is also potentially gearing up for an Alibaba partnership as well that was reported earlier this year. I know rumors are still floating down to the store level on this (my father is a store manager)

awat 8y ago

Kroger seems to have some vision on technology implementation. I’ve been impressed with thier clicklist (online grocery pickup) here in Salt Lake City. Looking forward to having this available.

nickpsecurity 8y ago
They have no vision. They got it from overpaying for Harris Teeter who had a $5 online order service. They botched their implementation of it, too. Kroger is strictly top-down, workers-are-idiots management that has to buy its innovations from better-managed companies. People are quitting in droves in all areas of the store and management. Heck, local store has different workers every time I shop. Usually a sign of that. ;) My theory is the media isnt reporting on years of such practices since they're a big customer (advertiser).
- frockington 8y ago
  By that logic McDonalds, Home Depot and Walmart would have been out of business decades ago. Local store turn over has zero indication of management.
  - nickpsecurity 8y ago
    It does when the employees leaving were high-performance workers saying they're leaving due to management. Those that left for Kroger's competitors say they're not as bad. Quick example from local Kroger: 1. They cut staff to almost nothing. On some holidays, there were 2 stockers visible in a store with 20 isles. Stuff is empty everywhere. Dept heads I interviewed said they get "no hours" and were told it was just "bad productivity." 2. Response from corporate office was to hire more managers to do the stocking. So, they think it's cheaper to have manager's do clerk work. Corporate people even come stock before audits. 3. Corporate office sends 10-20 people af a tine to "fix" stores with "process compliance," "policies," and so on. The workers say they re-explain the basics of their job like they're dumb and nitpick them over side jobs. Those that went to Walmart and Target said the new bosses mainly let them do their job. They also have staff for stocking. 4. Workers constantly generate ideas to improve stores. Customer satisfaction and sales go up. Corporate tells them to knock it off to follow "the Process" since it's what customers "want." Numbers go back down. Managers claim workers were at fault since the Process works. Like a cult. 5. Corporate controls everything remotely with many policies made by people with no experience. They control how things are laid out, what is stocked, in what order, how much, with what on a dolly, and so on. Workers are expected to be robots. If this process fails, it's the workers that failed. 6. Their tech is garbage, too. They buy a lot of overpriced stuff that doesnt work like the AI controlling registers. The supervisors do it better. I think the handhelds run SCO OpenServer for terminal stuff. Remember SCO? ;) 7. Currently, lots of their equipment is breaking at the nearby stores with them not replacing or fixing it. Workers are sharing stuff adding overhead. None of this happens at Publix or Costco. They invest in workers, treat them well, let them help innovate, reward them for good work, and so on. They've performed better in most metrics with low turnover. Kroger does the opposite. So, even good veterans are leaving since they're set up to fail every day and mistreated. The union benefits are the only reason veterans I interviewed that stayed were staying.

Itaxpica 8y ago

Home Chef is by far my favorite of the meal kits I’ve tried (and I’ve tried a lot) in terms of both variety and quality. Fingers crossed this is one of those “keep doing what you’re doing but now with the funds for greater scale and distribution” acquisitions and not one of those “steady degradation of service while the new owner plunders you for parts” acquisitions.

kolbe 8y ago

>And you can see why everyone’s diving in. As we’ve covered before: According to Nielsen research, “in the year ended 2017, in-store meal kits generated $154.6 million in sales, posting growth of more than 26% year-over-year. For context, total brick-and-mortar sales for center store edibles (grocery, dairy, frozen foods) dipped 0.1% last year to $374 billion.” So, "everyone's diving in" because meal kits are a rounding error to the other category?

brogrammernot 8y ago
No, they’re diving in because they want the early growth and infrastructure without the need to build it themselves. That “rounding error” can be seen in a different light, it’s an area of the market that is making significant progress YoY. This isn’t a play for the next year, it’s seeing the YoY growth of this vertical within their market and wanting to capitalize on that. The world is and has been moving towards “easier” and services that provide immediate gratification. In-store meal kits are right in that category. People don’t want to buy homes, cars or big ticket items anymore, there’s a culture of “leasing” because of the inconvenience that goes along with the maintenance/upkeep of those items. In a similar vein, lots of people view cooking “healthy” meals to be difficult (it’s not) but are willing to spend a little more to get a simple meal to cook that is either healthy or gives the illusion of being so. $200M is dirt cheap to acquire the talent, and all of the existing processes of the company. Add in the scale of someone like Kroger, and the price per unit they can acquire is going to be vastly cheaper then someone like Blue Apron or the various other meal kit startups. You end up placing these in their stores on endcaps and other areas where it’s only a bit more per person to buy a meal kit that’s marketed as “healthy” and they’re going to fly off the shelf. This is one acquisition that makes a ton of sense to me, and Kroger likely sees In-Store meal kits as continuing to grow tremendously YoY.
- ghaff 8y ago
  >People don’t want to buy homes, cars or big ticket items anymore That's the perspective of a very specific demographic. And even in SV, there seems to be no shortage of people wanting to buy houses and any shortage of cars on the road. That said, there is a trend towards convenience which is one reason you see so much food that's been pre-prepped to various degrees (for a premium) in supermarkets. Adding full meal kits seems a very logical extension to that trend.

imroot 8y ago

I'm really not surprised by this at all. I know that Kroger was exploring a service like this last year, based on conversations that I had with someone from their legal team; they've had this in the Cincinnati area stores that I've been in recently (when I've been in that area) -- including their "flagship" Oakley store -- for at least the last six to eight months.

chipperyman573 8y ago
Why are you talking with their legal team, and what would they say that would lead you to believe they were exploring this service? Honestly wondering, I'm not doubting you.

mkirklions 8y ago

I did a study on Kroger, Costco, Walmart, Sams, Aldi, and Kroger was a scam. Constant "10/10$" or "ALWAYS LOW PRICE $2.49" on items that are cheaper at Costco, Walmart, and Aldi. As a note, Walmart won or was on par with Aldi. Aldi had a very limited selection despite having decent prices. Costco isnt worth shopping at for food item with few exceptions(canned food, which isnt very optimal in general). Anyway, my point is, I dont really trust Kroger. They overcharge for items and claim its cheap. They even have an 'organic' section of the store, which makes me think is all marketing. If anyone wants the link to the study, lmk, I avoid posting my link unless its relevant and wanted.

Severian 8y ago
I would be extremely interested in your study. I've long suspected Kroger of inflating prices, especially beef. Most times I've seen them at almost twice the price per lb. than other competing grocery stores in my area. Also, they seem to lack basic conveniences in stores that others have. One example is hand baskets. They do not place any around the store in case shoppers need to use one. Only at the front.
- mkirklions 8y ago
  Here is the article http://efficiencyiseverything.com/grocer-comparison-aldi-walmart-costco-kroger/ http://efficiencyiseverything.com/grocer-comparison-aldi-wal... Thanks for the request because I noticed it wasnt on my /food/ page. I'm all about quality and price, quality for food seems pretty similar, price is easily measurable.
testfoobar 8y ago
Why isn't Costco worth shopping at for food items?
- mkirklions 8y ago
  Its more expensive, I replied my link to another poster if you want to see the data. I cant speak for paper products, when I did that study it was walmart disposables only.

subpixel 8y ago

It was reported when it happened, but most New Yorkers are unaware that Kroger bought Murray's Cheese last year. They already have 400 or so standalone Murray's shops _inside_ Krogers around the country, selling the best cheese and 'specialty food' items (charcuterie, crackers, dips, etc.) you can get in the US. And every person behind the counter is trained by Murray's to know their stuff and be able to make expert recommendations. Murray's bake-at-home mac and cheese, only available at Kroger, sounds quite nice.

stefantheard 8y ago
I didn't know this, thank you for mentioning it. I shop at Kroger pretty often and have never considered buying cheese or charcuterie there since it seemed like it might be bad, guess I was quite a ways off the mark.
- professorgerm 8y ago
  It varies by location, though. If you have a Kroger with a Murray's, the cheese selection will be much better than the average grocer. They're easy to recognize given all the Murray's branding they put up. Kroger with their standard cheese counter is pretty much what you'd expect.
tedmiston 8y ago
Ah, that makes sense. I wondered where the new fancy cheese mini shops came from.

tedmiston 8y ago

This makes me happy. I've tried a half dozen of the meal kit providers and Home Chef is hands down the highest quality in terms of ingredients and also providing recipes that are fancy enough that you don't say "I could have just made this myself" like everyone says about Blue Apron. I order irregularly but my experience with Home Chef has been incredible. I'm probably one of the few on HN who's tried Kroger's existing meal kits that have been piloted in a few stores around Cincinnati. They definitely target a different audience than the online meal kits, but being able to pick one up at the grocery store on a whim vs committing to buy + cook 3 kits in 1 week has been a game changer for me. I hope that they bring the Home Chef kits in store. Plus it's got to save a ton not having to ship the kits and not requiring the ice packs.