Kroger Expands Plant-Based Line
The Kroger Co. has expanded its exclusive Simple Truth Plant Based product line with more than 50 new plant-based foods available at affordable prices. New items include nondairy cheeses, oat milk ice cream and Emerge fresh chicken-less patties and grinds.
The line debuted with more than 20 products in September 2019, offering such items as vegan chocolate chip cookie dough, oat milk, sour cream, deli slices and sausage, and has since grown to include vegan- and flexitarian-friendly snacks, spreads, dips, desserts, and burger patties and grinds, among other options. According to Kroger, by the end of this year, the line will consist of more than 75 products. Last January, the grocer listed flexitarian foods among its emerging trends for 2020.
“We’re excited to introduce the latest additions to our Simple Truth Plant Based collection to provide an expanded selection of affordable, delicious and quality products for our customers who live a vegan, vegetarian or flexitarian lifestyle,” said Kroger Chief Merchant Stuart Aitken. “We look forward to continuing to drive the growth of the plant-based category through our Simple Truth brand, which exceeded $2.5 billion in sales last year, and we anticipate increased interest in our plant-based selection in 2021 and beyond.”
The now includes more dairy-free options, among them cheese shreds and slices, oat milk ice cream, almond milk yogurt and creamy salad dressings, as well as trend-inspired recipes like ready-to-eat brownie batter and cauliflower dips. Kroger’s team of chefs, food scientists and nutritionists developed recipes that delivered taste and textures comparable to their dairy counterparts, while ensuring that they were free of GMOs and 101-plus artificial preservatives and ingredients.
Also now available exclusively at Kroger banner stores is Simple Truth Emerge Chick’n, a plant-based alternative to fresh chicken patties and grinds created in response to higher demand for the Simple Truth Emerge meatless burger patties and grinds rolled out this past January. The GMO-, dairy- and soy-free Chick’n patties and grinds provide up to 21 grams of wheat-based protein per serving and are sold in the packaged traditional meat case. A recent study carried out by the Plant Based Foods Association (PBFA) and Kroger at 60 test stores in Colorado, Indiana and Illinois found that plant-based meat sales increased by 23% when those items were sold in the meat department.
“As our customers’ eating styles and health and wellness goals continue to evolve, Simple Truth will continue to deliver an unmatched combination of quality and value for natural, organic and plant-based foods,” noted Brad Studer, senior director of Our Brands at Kroger. “We believe that everyone deserves to have access to fresh, affordable and delicious food, no matter who you are, how you shop or what you like to eat, and we will continue to innovate and inspire our selection of products to deliver on that very promise for our customers.”
Cincinnati-based Kroger employs nearly half a million associates who serve 9 million-plus customers daily through a seamless digital shopping experience and 2,800 retail food stores under a variety of banner names. The company is No. 3 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2020 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.
