CINCINNATI — After its first fulfillment center opened in Cincinnati in May, The Kroger Co. has announced plans to add new Kroger fulfillment centers powered by the Ocado Group, combining vertical integration, machine learning, and robotics to provide an affordable, friendly, and fast fresh food delivery service. 

"We feel great about the momentum we're experiencing with Kroger Delivery and our partnership with Ocado and are strategically leveraging our assets to expand our operations in existing regions as well as enter new geographies on the East Coast that leverage facilities across a growing range of sizes," said Rodney McMullen, Kroger's chairman and chief executive officer. 

The company will share more insights about its plans for the Northeast, California, and Florida, including customer coverage areas, job creation, facility sizes and timing, in the coming months but today is highlighting the following: 

Northeast 

Kroger will enter the Northeast for the first time, offering Kroger Delivery enabled by a customer fulfillment center (CFC). The facility will meet the need for same-day and next-day grocery delivery demand. 

California 

Kroger will expand its existing operations and boost capacity in California with the addition of two CFCs. The medium and smaller-sized facilities will meet the need for same-day and next-day grocery delivery demand. 

Florida  

Kroger Delivery launched in Central Florida earlier this year, and the operation has ramped up faster than expected, unlocking additional ways of executing and operating and resulting in high customer repeat rates and net promoter scores. 

To continue driving momentum, Kroger will enter South Florida and introduce two smaller-sized fulfillment facilities. These will join the already live CFC in Groveland as well as "spoke" sites in Jacksonville and Tampa. It will also mark the introduction of two automated local fulfillment centers with Ocado, enabling Kroger Delivery to serve customers as fast as 30 minutes with a selection of 10,000 fresh food items and essentials, and to deliver same-day and next-day orders with 35,000 items. 

"The acceleration of Kroger Delivery continues with these new facilities and our continued focus on creating career opportunities and serving customers through interconnected, automated and innovative fulfillment models that cater to different and accretive grocery shopper missions in both new and existing geographies," said Gabriel Arreaga, Kroger's senior vice president and chief supply chain officer. "We have a pipeline of sites in development across the US, with several scheduled to open next year, and we're excited to continue delivering the Kroger experience to more doorsteps."  

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