Kroger shares close higher on Monday, Kroger’s Home Chef annual sales reach $1 billion

Kroger Company (KR) said on Monday that its Home Chef meal solutions brand had reached $1 billion in annual sales.

Home Chef was established by Pat Vihtelic in 2013, while it merged with Kroger in 2018.

Home Chef offers over 500 products across a number of categories, including meal kits, heat-and-eat meals, ready-to-eat products, seasonal meals among others.

“Kroger’s commitment to being Fresh for Everyone is underscored by our Home Chef products, which help us bring families together in the kitchen with meal options for any occasion,” Dan De La Rosa, Kroger’s group vice president of fresh merchandising, said in a press release.

“We continue to strategically expand Home Chef offerings across our family of companies. Whether it’s meal kits, or heat-and-eat and ready-to-cook solutions – which are available via subscription, in-store, pickup, or delivery – it’s safe to say that Home Chef has mealtime covered,” he added.

“At Home Chef, we’re on a mission to make mealtime easier with fresh ingredients and simple instructions,” Erik Jensen, president of Home Chef, said.

“By offering time-saving meal solutions at Kroger Family of Stores, we’re able to simplify the cooking process, provide a wide variety of options, and allow customers to enjoy a delicious homemade experience. We’re excited to continue scaling the brand and creating new products that are accessible to customers nationwide.”

Shares of Kroger Company closed higher for a second consecutive trading session in New York on Monday. The stock went up 0.25% ($0.10) to $40.33, after touching an intraday high at $40.72. The latter has been a price level not seen since September 30th ($41.59).

Shares of Kroger Company have risen 27.02% so far in 2021 compared with a 21.58% gain for the benchmark index, S&P 500 (SPX).

In 2020, Kroger Co’s stock went up 9.56%, thus, it underperformed the S&P 500, which registered a 16.26% gain.