Kroger Further Commits to Ending Hunger, Creating Healthier Communities
The Kroger Co. Chairman and CEO Rodney McMullen was part of this week’s White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health, and during the event outlined several new efforts that will be undertaken by the grocer. Concurrent with the conference, Kroger Health also brought together a coalition of leaders for a roundtable discussion about improving population health through food and nutrition.
As part of its commitment, Kroger plans to advance the food-as-medicine platform through a partnership with the Rockefeller Foundation and the American Heart Association that will mobilize $250 million to build a national Food as Medicine research initiative. The grocer will also launch a new Zero Hunger | Zero Waste Innovation Fund in partnership with Kroger Health to find startup and scalable solutions that improve health outcomes.
Kroger will also expand access to expert, credible and convenient care through telehealth services. Finally, the retailer plans to empower all consumers to make and have access to healthy choices by expanding OptUP nutritional scoring to test and determine whether it can transform into a national nutrition scoring system.
"We are proud to join the White House and dozens of public, private and non-profit organizations who share our longstanding commitments to end hunger, eliminate food waste, and improve health and nutrition for all Americans," said McMullen. "As Kroger marks our fifth anniversary of Zero Hunger | Zero Waste and remains on track to donate 3 billion meals by 2025 and our Kroger Health business is uniquely positioned to provide care at the nexus of food and medicine, we welcome and applaud this collective focus on new initiatives and innovative ways to support our shared missions."
The White House conference was well attended by the food and beverage industry, with retailers, industry groups and CPGs featured in President Biden’s summary of industry commitments.
Serving 60 million households annually nationwide through a digital shopping experience, and almost 2,800 retail food stores under a variety of banner names, Cincinnati-based Kroger is No. 4 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2022 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.
