Last updated on October 16th, 2017 at 04:18 pm
The Kroger Co. on Oct. 12 hosted its first Natural Foods Innovation Summit in partnership with 84.51° (see story below), in Cincinnati, Ohio, with keynote speaker Joy Bauer, MS, RD, CDN.
“Kroger is proud of the role we’ve played in making natural and organic products more affordable and accessible to America,” said Jill McIntosh, Kroger’s VP of natural foods. “This category was a $16 billion business for us in 2016, and today’s company-produced expo is an innovation platform that allows us to continue to expand our natural foods product portfolio by partnering with emerging brands on micro and macro levels.”
Top trends in natural foods are holistic health, convenience and sustainability. Consumer insights show that customers are adopting a 360-degree approach to health and wellness, including greater consumption of natural foods to prevent illnesses. A growing number of customers are seeking healthier on-the-go snacks and meals, and nutritional drinks are increasingly becoming meal replacements.
Kroger’s team of buyers continuously look for opportunities to purchase regionally that allow the company to expand its product portfolio for customers, stimulate the local economy and enhance product freshness. Sourcing locally also supports the company’s sustainability commitments, including Kroger’s Zero Hunger | Zero Waste initiative launched last month. Recently, Kroger joined the Sustainable Packaging Coalition, a membership-based collaborative of like-minded companies striving to advance sustainable packaging.
“Kroger is leading the way to redefine the food and grocery customer experience as one part of our Restock Plan announced yesterday in New York at our annual investor conference. Customer lifestyles are evolving, and as America’s grocer, we understand the importance of carrying relevant products at affordable prices that are meaningful to the nearly nine million customers we serve daily in our family of stores,” said McIntosh.
Kroger will begin to host Natural Foods Innovation Summit events a few times per year. Local and natural foods brands can visit Kroger.Com/WeAreLocal to learn how to join Kroger’s family of suppliers.
84.51° unveils Kroger Precision Marketing, Powered by 84.51°
With expertise in retail, consumer packaged goods (CPG), marketing and media, 84.51° is launching Kroger Precision Marketing, Powered by 84.51°, a “cross-channel media solution focused on precise personalized communication to customers at the right time with the right message in the right way.”
84.51°, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Kroger Co., works exclusively with CPGs to deepen relationships with Kroger customers and brands to create measurable value. Kroger Precision Marketing, Powered by 84.51°, taps into purchase data from 60 million households from 2,800 stores in 35 states to create holistic campaigns across an expanded digital ecosystem. Its offerings include on-site advertising on Kroger.com, co-branded digital media across the open web, and Kroger’s MyMagazine Sharing Network—an exclusive word-of-mouth platform that reaches Kroger’s most loyal customers with new products.
Through the precision of 84.51°’s data and targeting science, the company says CPGs now can leverage multiple channels to connect with customers, delivering against key objectives such as accelerating the impact of new product launches, amplifying in-store promotions or driving long-term sales growth. Kroger Precision Marketing, Powered by 84.51°, features dynamic closed-loop analysis, allowing CPGs to evaluate household level impact by connecting exposure data to sales results to optimize investment strategies.
84.51° and Kroger have piloted the platform with several brands over the last 18 months. A recent co-branded digital media program proved marketing efficiency based on actual in-store behavior, when compared against other strategies. 84.51° purchased-based strategies drove 4x the sales uplift of other strategies, despite representing 50 percent fewer impressions. 84.51° also says it has proven the net incremental impact of layering a consistent message and call to action across three or more communications channels will achieve up to 12x the sales lift for a brand.
“Kroger loyal customers seek a higher degree of relevancy and personalization in the content they are served. With the insights that this platform offers, we can engage with our customers in more meaningful ways to increase their loyalty through brand engagement,” said Stuart Aitken, CEO of 84.51°. “This platform also fuels two parts of the Restock Kroger Plan, announced yesterday in New York at the company’s annual Investor Conference: Redefine the Food and Grocery Customer Experience and Expand Partnerships to Create Customer Value. Enhancing personalization and creating alternative revenue streams, as we will through this platform, are focus areas to grow value for Kroger’s shareholders, customers and associates.”
