Kroger Elevates Home Chef with Racheal Ray

 

Success does leave clues and Kroger needs more that Albertsons and Safeway to get it self out of being a brand that is stuck in the middle at best.  According to Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®; “Racheal Ray will elevate brand relevance within Home Chef’s grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared customer focused meal kit category.”

Johnson continued, “Solutions to the age of question; What’s for Dinner can be found in meal kits which are a platform food solution for customers.  Home Chef meal kits at local branded Kroger stores are a desired quick solution Gen Z and Millennials are looking for. Racheal Ray will add incremental relevance and new electricity to Kroger’s meal solution options.”

At Kroger, meal kit solutions remain a fast grower in retailer’s own-brands portfolio. Now Home Chef meal solutions subsidiary has made co-branded meal kits with TV chef Rachael Ray available in stores.

he new meal kits with Rachael Ray recipes will roll out monthly to more than 1,300 stores across Kroger Co. supermarket banners through March 17. More Rachael Ray recipes also can be ordered online for home delivery directly from Home Chef at homechef.com/rachael.

Dan De La Rosa, group vice president of fresh merchandising at Kroger, stated, “Rachael Ray, widely known for her quick, easy-to-prepare recipes, popular cooking shows and best-selling cookbooks, and Home Chef have come together to offer a series of meals from new Rachael recipes that are simple, convenient and delicious. “Personalized food experiences do not have to be complicated. We know customers have busy schedules, and we’re excited to offer special meal kits that even the most inexperienced home cook can prepare, offered in collaboration with Rachael Ray.”

How does this sound, the first Rachael Ray Home Chef meal kit hitting stores guides customers through an easy-to-follow recipe for a steakhouse burger with dijon mushrooms and onions. Besides the burger, other recipes available both in stores and online include Pork Lo Mein with carrots and bok choy as well as sausage, pepper and onion pasta bake with ricotta.

According to Johnson, “Brand relevance is in part driven with innovation in new food products in combination with new avenues of distribution all of which are the platform for the new electricity.” 

Johnson stated “that in my minds-eye the new electricity must be very efficient for the supply and includes such things as fresh foods, smaller footprint, developing brands, fresh flowers, grocerant positioning, fresh food messaging, autonomous delivery, cashier-less retail, plates, glasses, cash-less payments, digital hand-held marketing.

All retailers to survive the next generation of retail must embrace the artificial intelligence revolution while simultaneously embracing fresh food that is portable according to Johnson. 

Other selections in the Rachael Ray meal lineup include buffalo-style turkey chili with blue cheese crema and tortilla strips, pork chop with sweet onions and apple and cheesy crushed loaded potatoes, tilapia piccata with lemon spaghetti, deviled chicken with cheesy butternut squash, steak pizzaiola with fresh grape tomatoes, wedding soup with turkey ricotta meatballs and ditalini pasta, maple-mustard glazed chicken with apple and pear and cheesy mashed potatoes, a pub-style burger on a pretzel roll with roasted fingerling potatoes, and spicy sloppy joes with oven fries.

Home Chef, part of Kroger’s own-brands portfolio, unveiled the partnership with Rachael Ray in September, noting that the weekly rotation of meals will cover 26 recipes over six months.

Rachael Ray stated, “I am so excited to partner with Home Chef to bring tasty, easy-to-prepare meals to homes nationwide,” …. “Teaching others how to cook has always been a passion of mine, and this collaboration allows me to help people build confidence in the kitchen with my own recipes delivered straight to your door.”

Success does leave clues. One clue that time and time again continues to resurface is “the consumer is dynamic not static”.  Regular readers of this blog know that is the common refrain of Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  Our Grocerant Guru® can help your company edify your brand with relevance.  Call 253-759-7869 for more information.