• Kroger subsidiary Home Chef, which offers meal kits and prepared meal delivery services, is expanding its southeast footprint with a new production space in Douglasville, Georgia.

• The company expects the new 181,000-square-foot, production facility to allow for expanded capacity and increased efficiencies. The facility will include a 6,000-square-foot full-service kitchen dedicated to cooking and batch production of ingredients to be used in the company’s meals. It will also be equipped with features to ensure food-safe material design, upgraded cleaning processes, and a facility layout that promotes production flow. The location will cater to both the e-commerce meal delivery service and the retail needs of the business. 

• Kroger plans to hire nearly 700 staff to cater to increased staffing needs arising from the enhanced scale of production.

<ul><li>Home Chef is a Chicago-based provider of meal kits and prepared meal delivery services and was acquired by Kroger in May 2018 in a deal valued at up to USD 700 million. Home Chef currently offers a range of product categories including meal kits, heat-and-eat meals, ready-to-eat products, and seasonal meals. As of October 2021 , Home Chef has earned over USD 1 billion in sales and offers over 500 products, available at over 2,200 Kroger locations, both in-store and online.<ul>