How Kroger became a leading sushi seller

Kroger has become the largest seller of sushi in the U.S., with more than 40 million pieces of sushi sold in a typical year, reports the Wall Street Journal. 

In fact, U.S. supermarket retailer sales for sushi are up over 70% in the past year. Cincinnati-based Kroger owns the Ralphs, Smith’s, and Harris Teeter chains, among others.

The WSJ article said that this development says as much about “where and how Americans shop for food as it does about the country’s evolving palate,” helping to turn slices of “raw fish, real and imitation, and rice into an American consumer staple.”  

Sushi is a crucial part of Kroger’s strategy to expand beyond grocery shopping lists and “grab some of the dollars people budget for restaurants and eating out,” according to WSJ. Kroger’s data shows that the rolls bring new customers to its stores and encourage existing shoppers to visit more often. 

Kroger said it first noticed it was the nation’s biggest sushi retailer in 2020 when it was reviewing data from consumer research firm Circana. It has been grabbing a larger share of the U.S. sushi market ever since. And, sushi sales have lifted the sales of other prepared meals. 

“When customers think of sushi, we want them to think of Kroger,” said Stuart Aitken, chief merchant and marketing officer at Kroger. Two-thirds of Kroger stores have sushi sections.

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Sushi is proving to be a big business for a lot of grocery store chains like Albertsons and Whole Foods Market, and even regional retailers like California-based Good Food and North Carolina-based Fresh Market.

Sales volumes of sushi sold at U.S. retailers are up more than 50% over the past year, and dollar sales are up roughly 72%, according to Circana. 

Other key findings from Circana cited by WSJ include: 

Kroger first sold its sushi in 1991, moving beyond simple California rolls to offering more intricate ones later on, but the grocer sees the potential to reel in more shoppers by investing in fresher ingredients. 

The company has since added non-sushi dishes like seaweed salads and poke bowls, which it has also found to be appealing to consumers. Last year, Kroger sold about 2.5 million poke bowls and 1.4 million dumplings.