Kroger Plant-Based Meat Test Goes Live
The Kroger Co.’s innovative plant-based meat test with the Plant Based Foods Association (PBFA) has now rolled out to 60 of the grocer’s namesake banner stores in Denver, Indiana and Illinois. Customers will now encounter 3-foot plant-based meat sets within the conventional meat department at those locations.
According to San Francisco-based PBFA, the aim of the test, which went live Dec. 9, is to measure the impact of moving where all plant-based meats are sold on sales and customer engagement.
For 16 weeks, the test will track consumer engagement, along with dollar and unit sales of plant-based meats sold within the meat department. As well as this quantitative sales analysis, the pilot includes shopper interviews and shopper marketing communication.
Julie Emmett, PBFA’s senior director retail partnerships, wrote in a blog post: “Our goal is to provide retailers with actionable data to inform merchandising decisions and optimize plant-based food sales. In addition to plant-based burgers and sausages, this test includes plant-based deli slices, roasts, seitan and jackfruit.”
Emmett recently headed to Denver to check out the new plant-based meat set and oversee shopper interviews. “We are so grateful for the support of the entire Kroger team, including Kroger’s data analytics subsidiary, 84.51°,” she wrote in her post. “We look forward to turning the shopper data gained from the test into actionable insights on behalf of the entire industry!”
Cincinnati-based Kroger employs nearly half a million associates who serve 9 million-plus customers daily through a seamless digital shopping experience and 2,769 retail food stores under a variety of banner names. The company is No. 2 on Progressive Grocer’s 2019 Super 50 list of the top grocers in the United States.
