Kroger Private-Label Salads Include Traceability

AMY SUNG

CINCINNATI — Kroger has teamed with HarvestMark, a food traceability system from YottaMark, Redwood City, Calif., to offer customers easy access to information on where the retailer's new line of private-label fresh salads was grown as part of Kroger's “Quality You Can Trace” program.

“Our partnership with HarvestMark makes it easy for customers who are interested to learn more about the food they purchase for themselves and their families,” said Joe Grieshaber, group vice president of Kroger's meat, seafood, deli and produce departments, in a release.

Kroger's pre-washed, ready-to-serve packaged salads called Fresh Selections are the only salads with HarvestMark technology sold in the U.S. today, according to HarvestMark. Each bag, priced from $0.99 to $4.99, carries a 16-digit code that shoppers can enter at HarvestMark.com to learn more about the salad's origin, packing location, ingredients, date and time the product was packed.

Partnering with “the nation's largest traditional grocery retailer to bring traceability to consumers across the country,” marks a significant milestone for HarvestMark, Elliott Grant, chief marketing officer and founder of YottaMark, told SN.

Kroger's partnership with HarvestMark follows notification systems Kroger established two years ago to inform customers of certain product recalls, and extends the use of HarvestMark technology beyond whole foods.