CINCINNATI, OH - Kroger is a retailer with a commanding presence in the industry. Whenever it does anything innovative of the sort, all of us within the industry sit up and take notice. No stranger to testing out new formats, Kroger has also embrace the plant-based trend in a big way. Now, it’s leaning harder into this space as it plans to test out a dedicated plant-based meat section with help from the Plant Based Foods Association (PBFA).

"The test, which emerged from our partnership with PBFA, will allow us to unearth rich insight regarding how to best merchandise the category and connect with consumers," Marcellus Harris, Assistant Commodity Manager in the meat department for Kroger, commented.

According to a report from Food & Wine, the new department will be a subsection of the retailer’s standard meat departments. Kroger will be testing the new department over 20 weeks in 60 of its stores across Denver, Colorado; Indiana; and Illinois.

The locations were chosen to reach a wide enough range of customers to generate comprehensive data to inform Kroger of the new department’s effect on overall sales.

"Plant-based meat sales have been increasing dramatically year over year, even while most of them are placed where only the most dedicated consumers are likely to find and purchase them," said Julie Emmett, Senior Director of Retail Partnerships for PBFA. "We are confident that this test will demonstrate that plant-based meat sales will increase even more when consumers have easier access to them. We applaud Kroger for taking the lead on plant-based meat merchandising, and we are confident that the outcome will be a win for retailers, suppliers, and especially for consumers."

Will this new plant-based meat section help rocket vegetables to the top? AndNowUKnow will be here to report the latest.

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