Key Kroger banner stores to carry the plant protein-based burgers include Fred Meyer stores in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington State; King Soopers in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming; Kroger markets in Alabama, Georgia, Michigan, Ohio and South Carolina and Ralph’s stores in California.
The multistate roll-out of The Beyond Burger will begin with Ralph’s, King Soopers and Kroger stores, with Fred Meyer locations coming online in early August. Beyond Meat, maker of The Beyond Burger, expects the full roll-out take a few weeks.
“At Beyond Meat, our focus is on building meat directly from plants — juicy, delicious, satiating meat that also delivers the upside of plant-based protein,” Beyond Meat CEO Ethan Brown said in a statement. “We are grateful to see Kroger place the Beyond Burger in the meat aisle, where consumers are accustomed to shopping for burgers and believe this is an important step in broadening the way people think about, and define, meat.”
Beyond Meat makes plant protein alternatives to meatballs, chicken strips and tenders, beef crumbles and burger patties. The products are made with soy or pea protein, and are free of gluten, dairy, trans fats, cholesterols and GMO ingredients. Most recently, the Beyond Burger was added to the menus at BurgerFi and Epic Burger, in addition to the meat aisle at 23 Heinen’s Fine Foods locations, a family-owned grocery chain with stores in Ohio and Illinois.
Beyond Burger also expanded into Whole Foods’ South Region, and is sold at Safeway stores throughout Northern California, Northern Nevada and Hawaii. The growing popularity, and market penetration, of The Beyond Burger has not gone unnoticed. Springdale, Arkansas-based Tyson Foods Inc. acquired a 5 percent stake in Beyond Meat in 2016.
Kroger is one of the largest grocery retailers in the world with fiscal 2016 sales of $115.3 billion. Kroger operates many store formats under nearly two dozen banners. A complete list of stores is available via the Beyond Meat blog.
