Your Brand Has Been on the Shelf Forever. That Won't Save It.

SKU rationalization and brand rationalization are real at Kroger, and today they are more real than ever.

Kroger is not the retailer it was just a few months ago. It is a long way from the retailer we knew after COVID, and further still from the one we knew before it. Today's direction is clear: better retails, better in-store conditions, better in-store associates and a cleaner shelf. That cleaner shelf includes items, brands and a clear, easy-to-follow promotional strategy that shoppers can actually understand.

If you sell to Kroger, that last part deserves your full attention.

How We Got Here

To understand where Kroger is going, it helps to look at where it has been over the last two decades.

The Dillon years. Many longtime suppliers remember the Dave Dillon era as one built around the customer, with store associates and shoppers at the center of the business. The philosophy was simple: take care of the people in the stores and the people shopping them, and the results will follow.

The McMullen years. Rodney McMullen, who rose through Kroger's finance ranks, took over in 2014. His tenure brought real growth and new revenue engines, including the expansion of alternative profit businesses like retail media. It also brought the Albertsons merger attempt, which collapsed in late 2024 after federal and state courts blocked it. Many in the industry felt that during this stretch, the focus on store conditions and the shopper experience took a back seat to growth. McMullen resigned in March 2025 after a board investigation found his personal conduct did not align with Kroger's business ethics policy.

The interim period. Board chair Ron Sargent stepped in as interim CEO from March 2025 until February 2026. Sweeping change was not the mandate, but one area suppliers noticed was supplier entertainment. Kroger's publicly posted ethics policy now requires associates to treat meals and entertainment shared with a supplier as gifts, with approvals and reporting required. For suppliers who leaned on relationship-building over dinners and events, that was a quiet but meaningful shift.

The Foran era. In February 2026, Greg Foran became the first CEO in Kroger's 143-year history brought in from outside the company. At Walmart U.S., he was known for cleaning up stores, keeping items in stock and sharpening the fresh offering.

Why an Outsider Matters

Here is our read, and we will label it clearly as perspective.

Greg Foran is not a lifelong member of the Kroger family. That matters. An outside leader can make calls that insiders often find hard to make, especially decisions that break long-standing habits or longtime relationships. Kroger, like many legacy retailers, has carried practices forward simply because that is the way it has always been done.

So far, the moves are leaning toward a genuine reset.

To be clear, this is not a knock on Foran. Many of his calls are the right ones, and they are the kind of decisions that have been overdue. Better prices, better stores and a simpler shopping experience are good for shoppers, and in the long run, a healthier Kroger is good for the suppliers who remain on its shelves.

The Headlines Are the Proof

This is not theory. Kroger pulled Red Bull from all its stores and fuel centers, and Boar's Head deli items came out of roughly 200 stores, with reporting tying both to proposed price increases Kroger would not accept. Boar's Head has disputed that pricing was the reason, and negotiations were reported as ongoing.

Supermarket News put it bluntly, saying Kroger appears willing to end longtime supplier relationships in pursuit of lower prices, with private label as the backstop. At the same time, Kroger plans to grow its budget label, Smart Way, from around 130 items to about 1,000.

The urgency makes sense. According to Numerator data, Kroger shoppers moved more than $12 billion in CPG spending to Amazon, Walmart and Costco over the past year. When that much money walks out the door, every item on the shelf gets a harder look.

Red Bull and Boar's Head are the names that made headlines. It would be naive to assume they are the only ones, and it is reasonable to expect more in the hopper.

Does Kroger Need Five Brands Doing the Same Thing?

Ask yourself honestly: does Kroger need three, four or five brands offering essentially the same item?

The answer is no.

Rationalization serves several goals at once. It simplifies the shopping experience. It frees up warehouse slots and shelf space. And it gives Kroger a way to reward the brands that remain, with better placement and more attention, in exchange for stronger partnership on price and promotion.

There is a negotiation dynamic here too, and it is worth naming. The brands that stay learn they were chosen, and with that comes an expectation to support Kroger's asks. The brands that leave get to decide what they are willing to offer to earn their way back in. That is negotiation 101, and it works because both sides understand the stakes.

If your item is a me-too, and especially if there is a private label version sitting right next to it, you may be squarely in the crosshairs.

"But We've Been on the Shelf Forever"

That is exactly the mindset that gets brands cut.

Longevity was once a form of protection. Relationships, history and habit kept items on the shelf long after their performance stopped justifying the space. That era is ending. An item's past tells Kroger very little about whether it earns its place in the store Kroger is trying to build.

The Question You Have to Answer Honestly

Here is the question at the heart of this entire post:

If your shopper walked into Kroger tomorrow and your items were gone, what would they do?

Would they shrug and reach for the Kroger brand? Would they grab a similar item from another brand? Or would they go buy it somewhere else?

That last answer is the one retailers fear. A loyal shopper who leaves for one item may not leave with just that item. They may take their whole basket with them, and Kroger loses far more than your sales line.

This is exactly how Kroger and 84.51° think about assortment risk. As we covered in How Kroger Models the Risk of Cutting Your Item, the science estimates how much of an item's sales would be lost versus how much would simply transfer to something else on the shelf. If your sales transfer easily, you are easy to cut.

If you have Stratum access, look at your cross-shop and exclusivity data. How many of your shoppers buy only you in the category? How many regularly buy the competitor, or the Kroger brand, right alongside you? The data will tell you where you stand, whether you like the answer or not.

Be Real With Yourself

We know you love the brand you sell. You believe it is the best item out there, and you may be right.

But that is your view. Kroger's view is built on shopper behavior, not supplier passion. Category Managers are not grading how much you believe in your product. They are asking what the shopper does without it.

The suppliers who survive rationalization are the ones who answer that question with the same honesty Kroger will.

What to Do Right Now

Rationalize yourself before Kroger does it for you. Look at your own tail. If you have underperforming SKUs, offering to cut them proactively shows you understand Kroger's goals and protects the items that matter most. It is far better to choose which items go than to have Kroger choose for you.

Know your role in the category. Be able to explain, in one sentence, what your item does for the shopper that nothing else on the shelf does. If you cannot, that is your warning sign.

Take private label seriously. With Smart Way expanding and Our Brands a major priority, assume a private label alternative exists or is coming. Your case has to explain why shoppers will still choose you.

Bring clean, simple promotions. Kroger wants a promotional strategy shoppers can understand. Complicated deal structures work against you. Simple, meaningful value works for you.

Be realistic about price increases. The Red Bull and Boar's Head headlines make it clear that price increases are getting real scrutiny. Come with justification, timing and a plan to protect the shopper.

Protect your in-stocks and execution. Kroger is investing in store conditions. An item that is often out of stock or poorly supported in store works directly against that goal, and it trains your shoppers to buy something else.

Show up as a partner, not just a vendor. The brands that remain will be the ones that help Kroger win. Know Kroger's priorities and connect your plan to them.

The Bottom Line

Kroger is cleaning house on the shelf, and longevity is not a shield. Your products are at risk. Your brand is at risk. That is not a threat, it is the reality of a retailer working hard to win back shoppers.

And remember the lesson we keep coming back to: you need Kroger more than Kroger needs you. Your brand is replaceable, unless you can prove it is not.

The suppliers who come out of this stronger will be the ones who answer the hard questions honestly, act before they are forced to, and give Kroger every reason to choose them.

Sources: Kroger CEO announcement, Grocery Dive on Greg Foran, Kroger Policy on Business Ethics, Bloomberg on Red Bull and Boar's Head, Supermarket News on supplier pricing, Quartz on Smart Way expansion

From Cincinnati CPG Edge, keeping you in the Kroger know.