Kroger Moves In On 'Very Strong' Meatless Opportunity With Private Label Offering

Grocery retailer Kroger Co KR is the latest company to enter the meat alternative space with a large lineup of unique and new food items, following popular Beyond Meat BYND and a slew of competitors.

What Happened

Kroger said Thursday it will sell a new line of branded plant-based burgers, grinds and other meatless products like dips, pasta sauces and cookie dough in the coming months.

The new items will be absorbed into Kroger's Simple Truth label and will sell under the brand Simple Truth Plant Based.

Simple Truth was launched in 2013 and now boasts annual sales of more than $2.3 billion.

Why It's Important

Kroger's jump into the space is the result of observing from the sidelines.

Gil Phipps, Kroger's vice president of branding, marketing and private brands, told The Wall Street Journal the company has been "tracking this for a number of years."

Kroger is now looking to advantage of the "very, very strong" growth in the sector, he said.

The retailer also cited environmental concerns as a reason for the new product lineup.

A 2018 study published by Science concluded that plant-based diets can lower environment emissions like greenhouse gases from food production by more than 70%.

"It's a defining moment when America's largest grocer launches an entire collection of plant-based meat and dairy products and is clear proof that plant-based has truly gone mainstream," Bruce Friedrich, The Good Food Institute's executive director, said in a statement.

What's Next

Phipps said one-third of Kroger's customer base identifies as "flexitarians," or people who eat meat and fish on occasion, according to WSJ.

The market for meatless alternatives is projected to reach $85 billion by 2030.

Kroger shares were up 1.42% at the time of publication, while Beyond Meat shares were 0.62% higher.

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Photo credit: Nicholas Eckhart, Flickr