Kroger and Home Chef Expand Ready-to-Eat Dinner Lineup to Target Fast-Casual Dining

Key points

• Kroger is expanding Home Chef ready-to-eat meal lines across retail stores to compete directly with fast-casual restaurants.
• The move shifts Home Chef away from raw ingredient subscription kits toward immediate, zero-prep heat-and-eat meals.
• Supermarkets are leveraging menu inflation at restaurants to offer cheaper convenient dinner options to shoppers.
• Centralized production and existing supply chains give grocery stores a price advantage over delivery apps.

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Sources and methodology

Reported from the public datasets below.

• Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) - Consumer Price Index, food away from home
• Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED) - Food services and drinking places series
• U.S. Census Bureau - Monthly Retail Trade, food services

All sources Foodie Pundit reports from

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