Kroger, GE Appliances serve up recipes right at the stovetop 2023

A new partnership is enabling The Kroger Co. to deliver recipes to consumers at the point of cooking.

GE Appliances, a home appliances arm of Haier Group, said Wednesday that it has teamed up with Kroger, the nation’s largest supermarket retailer, to provide recipes to the touchscreens of selected models of WiFi-connected wall ovens and ranges. The recipe functionality—which also enables the purchase of recipe ingredients for delivery or pickup from Kroger Co. stores—is part of GE Appliance’s artificial intelligence-based Flavorly AI feature for its SmartHQ consumer app.

Through the oven’s touchscreen, consumers can view a rotating selection of recipes from Kroger and other consumer packaged goods partners, such as King Arthur Baking, Louisville, Kentucky-based GE Appliances said. If they see an appealing recipe, they can click to view the list of ingredients and instructions, as well as be directed to precision cooking modes for better results. And if users lack the items to prepare the recipe, another click on the touchscreen will add all the needed ingredients to their Kroger Co. store’s online shopping cart.

GE Appliances noted that recipes from Kroger include convenient meals like rotisserie chicken oven tacos and sheet pan gnocchi with sausage; holiday dishes such as apple spinach pork loin and savory bread pudding casserole; and, for the holiday baking season, King Arthur’s giant cinnamon roll and spiced hot cocoa cookies with marshmallow middles.

“Kroger’s technology-driven approach to creating convenient and seamless shopping experiences for its customers aligns with our vision to support our consumers throughout the meal preparation process,” Viren Shah, chief digital officer at GE Appliances, said in a statement. “We are thrilled to collaborate with Kroger and use our combined expertise in the food ecosystem to deliver experiences and features that truly resonate with consumers.”

The recipe capability is provided as an over-the-air update to the more than 150,000 consumers with compatible models of GE Profile, CAFÉ and Monogram wall ovens and slide-in ranges, GE Appliances said. For the first time they use the feature, owners of these ovens scan a QR code for a guide to link their Kroger online account.

Flavorly AI, powered by Google Cloud’s Vertex AI generative AI platform, was introduced in August. Accessed via the SmartHQ app, the tool allows consumers to generate custom recipes based on ingredients in their kitchen, GE Appliances said. Users select a recipe category and type of cuisine, input available ingredients and indicate any dietary preferences, and then they will receive tailored recipes with ingredients, instructions and photos.

If customers need the ingredients for a recipe, they can click on the oven touchscreen to add them to their Kroger virtual cart and buy them for pickup or delivery. / Photo courtesy of GE Appliances

“Our goal is to make cooking an easy and enjoyable experience for our consumers. By bringing inspiration to people’s fingertips, combining that with precision cooking modes and easy ordering of ingredients, we aim to expand their cooking confidence, help reduce food waste and create a seamless cooking journey,” stated Shawn Stover, vice president of smart-home and energy solutions at GE Appliances. “The combination of our innovative hardware, over-the-air updatable software, WiFi capabilities and cloud-based infrastructure allows us to deliver appliances with superior craftsmanship while fostering an ever-expanding ecosystem of partnerships committed to enhancing life at home.”

Overall, Cincinnati-based Kroger operates 2,721 supermarkets and multi-department in 35 states and the District of Columbia under more than two dozen store banners, including Kroger, Ralphs, Dillons, Smith’s, Fred Meyer, King Soopers, Harris Teeter, Fry’s, QFC, Mariano’s, City Market, Owen’s, Jay C, Pay Less, Baker’s, Gerbes, Pick ‘n Save, Metro Market, Food 4 Less and Foods Co.