CINCINNATI, Aug. 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Kroger Co.
(NYSE: KR) today announced its inaugural Go Fresh & Local
Supplier Accelerator cohort – Maazah, Nona
Lim, Queen Charlotte's Pimento Cheese Royale, Simply
Southern Sides, and Soupergirl.
"We invented the Go Fresh & Local Supplier Accelerator to
discover the best, most innovative, and freshest local and regional
products – and our group of winners is just that," said
Dan De La Rosa, Kroger's group vice
president of fresh merchandising. "We are proud to partner with
these extraordinary suppliers to bring exciting new products to our
stores across the country – and introduce customers to more locally
made favorites."
Earlier this year, Kroger invited growers and producers to join
the retailer's first Go Fresh & Local Supplier Accelerator. In
collaboration with Efficient Collaborative Retail
Marketing and RangeMe, Kroger reviewed more than 1,000
applications, selecting 15 finalists to participate in a pitch
competition. The finalists recently traveled to Cincinnati for the pitch competition, which
was judged by Milen Mahadevan, president of 84.51°; Valerie Jabbar, senior vice president of retail
divisions at Kroger; Nick Tranchina,
president of Murray's Cheese; Patrick
Vihtelic, founder and CEO of HomeChef; Dan De La Rosa, group vice president of fresh
merchandising at Kroger; and Brian
Kelley, CEO of PearlRock Partners.
For the event, the finalists were grouped by region and each
business presented a 10-minute pitch and provided samples to the
judging panel, after which the judges were invited to ask questions
and learn more about the brands and their founders. The judges then
narrowed the list and named this year's winning brands to form the
cohort.
2021 Go Fresh & Local Accelerator Winners:
- Maazah (Minneapolis, MN)
– A bright, bold and balanced Afghan-style chutney made of fresh
cilantro, ginger, garlic, zesty lemon, apple cider vinegar and
jalapeno pepper from a women-owned brand. Maazah, meaning "flavor"
in Farsi, is inspired by family and culture – and its signature
chutney is inspired by a family recipe.
- Nona Lim (Oakland, CA) – Refrigerated pad thai &
Asian noodle kits from a women-owned brand. Inspired by the
namesake founder's Asian heritage, Nona
Lim is committed to bringing fresh, bold Asian flavors to
the table using only clean ingredients.
- Queen Charlotte's Pimento Cheese Royale (Charlotte, NC) – Four flavors of gluten-free,
keto-friendly premium pimento cheese from a husband-and-wife team
in Charlotte, NC. Queen
Charlotte's Pimento Cheese Royale is a family-owned and operated
business that handmakes, packs, and ships every tub of pimento
cheese.
- Simply Southern Sides (Macedonia, OH) – Spice and seasoning kits for
homemade soul food from Booker's Soul Food Starters, a Black and
woman-owned business from Kroger's home state of Ohio. This brand of all-natural seasoning
mixes allows customers to experience and prepare personalized
portions of traditional African American family dishes like collard
greens and peach cobbler.
- Soupergirl (Washington,
D.C.) – Readymade heat-and-eat soups, chilis and gazpacho
made from farm fresh local produce by a women-owned business.
Soupergirl believes in real, responsible food, supports local
farming, fights food waste, and cooks healthfully – so the planet,
the consumer, the community and the farmers win.
"Kroger's Go Fresh & Local Supplier Accelerator has allowed
us to identify additional growers, producers, and suppliers across
regions, categories, and verticals – helping us diversify our
product offering and our supplier relationships and create new ways
for small businesses to partner with the largest grocer in
America," said Stuart Aitken,
Kroger's chief merchant and marketing officer. "Just last year,
Kroger invested $4.1 billion in
diverse suppliers — a 21% increase versus the previous year — and
we aim to scale that number to $10
billion by 2030. This year's inaugural cohort is an
intentional and impactful step toward achieving that bold
goal."
Kroger will launch the cohort's products on its shelves by Q1 of
2022. Additionally, each cohort member will receive business
development coaching and collaboration opportunities to expand
their business. Early next year, Kroger anticipates announcing
details for the 2022 Go Fresh & Local Supplier Accelerator. To
learn more about this year's event, visit
TheKrogerCo.com/GoFreshLocal.
Media Assets
To download pitch competition
photography, please visit here.
About Kroger
At The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR), we are
Fresh for Everyone™ and dedicated to our Purpose: To Feed the Human
Spirit®. We are, across our family of companies, nearly half a
million associates who serve over 11 million customers daily
through a seamless shopping experience under a variety of banner
names. We are committed to creating #ZeroHungerZeroWaste
communities by 2025. To learn more about us, visit our newsroom and
investor relations site.
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SOURCE The Kroger Co.