Kroger 2014 Annual Report Download - page 5

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3
We฀are฀quickly฀becoming฀a฀top destination฀for฀customers฀looking฀for affordable, accessible organic
and natural foods.฀Natural฀Foods฀continues฀to฀be฀the฀fastest-growing฀department฀in฀our฀stores฀on฀a฀percentage฀
basis.฀Our฀leading฀natural฀and฀organics฀store฀brand,฀Simple Truth,฀reached฀a฀milestone฀$1.2฀billion฀in฀annual฀
sales฀in฀2014.฀And฀this฀within฀two฀years฀of฀launching฀the฀brand฀exclusively฀in฀our฀stores!฀During฀the฀year,฀more฀
than฀20฀million฀households฀bought฀one฀of฀our฀more฀than฀2,600฀Simple฀Truth฀or฀Simple฀Truth฀Organic฀items.
Investing to Grow
Our฀mergers฀with฀Harris฀Teeter฀and฀Vitacost฀have฀also฀opened฀new markets that present meaningful
growth฀ opportunities฀ for฀ Kroger.฀ In฀ fact,฀ Vitacost฀ today฀ sells฀ direct฀ to฀ consumers฀ in฀ all฀ U.S.฀ states฀ and฀
territories,฀and฀more฀than฀160฀countries฀worldwide.฀
We฀ are฀ currently฀ pursuing฀ our฀ fill-in markets strategy,฀ as฀ outlined฀ in฀ 2012,฀ and฀ are฀ making฀ good฀
progress.฀Fill-in฀markets฀are฀existing฀markets฀where฀we฀are฀investing฀capital฀to฀grow฀square฀footage,฀primarily฀
through฀new฀and฀expanded฀stores฀and฀remodels,฀in฀order฀to฀increase฀our฀market฀share.฀
* * *
The Kroger Difference
Increasingly,฀shoppers฀care฀about฀price,฀product฀selection฀and฀quality,฀the฀store฀experience฀and how
well฀companies฀take฀care฀of฀their฀associates,฀communities฀and฀the฀planet.฀
Taking Care of Our Associates
I฀am฀proud฀to฀say฀that฀Kroger฀is฀in฀the฀food฀business฀and฀the฀people฀business. Our people are our
greatest asset.
We฀ want฀ our฀ workforce฀ to฀ be฀ the฀ healthiest฀ in฀ America.฀ To฀ improve฀ workplace฀ wellness,฀ we฀ give฀
associates฀a฀variety฀of฀tools,฀including฀an฀incentive฀program฀with฀measurable฀outcomes.฀Over฀the฀last฀four฀
years,฀we฀have฀seen฀a฀demonstrated฀improvement฀in฀the฀health฀of฀our฀workforce฀through฀lower฀cholesterol,฀
blood฀pressure฀and฀blood฀glucose฀scores.฀And,฀our฀workplace฀well-being฀program฀received฀a฀‘Best฀Employers฀
for฀Healthy฀Lifestyles’฀award฀from฀the฀National Business Group on Health,฀and฀the฀company’s฀commitment฀
to฀employee฀health฀and฀wellness฀was฀recognized฀by฀the฀American Heart Association.
Our฀ goal฀ is฀ to฀ provide฀ our฀ associates฀ a฀ total฀ compensation฀ package฀ that฀ includes฀ solid฀ wages,฀ good฀
quality,฀affordable฀health฀care,฀and฀retirement฀benefits.฀In฀2014,฀Kroger฀invested฀$1.8฀billion฀in฀our฀associates’฀
health care.
Kroger฀ is฀ also฀ one of the safest companies in our industry. Associate engagement in innovative
safety฀programs฀has฀reduced฀accident฀rates฀in฀our฀stores฀and฀manufacturing฀plants฀by฀77฀percent฀since฀1995.฀
In฀2014,฀649฀retail฀locations฀and฀three฀manufacturing฀plants฀went฀the฀entire฀year฀without฀a฀recordable฀injury.
We continue to do our part to create jobs and opportunity.฀We฀employ฀25,000฀more฀associates฀today฀
than฀we฀did฀last฀year.฀More฀than฀90฀percent฀of฀these฀new฀jobs฀are฀in฀our฀supermarket฀divisions,฀ranging฀from฀
full-time฀department฀heads฀and฀assistant฀store฀managers฀to฀part-time฀courtesy฀clerks฀and฀cashiers.฀Over฀the฀
last฀seven฀years,฀Kroger฀has฀created฀more฀than฀65,000฀new฀jobs฀in฀our฀local฀communities.฀We฀are฀particularly฀
proud฀that฀we฀hired฀more฀than฀6,000฀veterans฀in฀2014฀and฀more฀than฀29,000฀veterans฀since฀2009.฀
We฀pride฀ourselves฀on฀our฀opportunity culture,฀where฀all฀associates฀have฀an฀opportunity฀to฀grow,฀build฀
new฀skills฀and฀turn฀a฀job฀into฀a฀career.฀More฀than฀two-thirds฀of฀our฀store฀managers฀started฀their฀Kroger฀careers฀
as฀part-time฀clerks.฀I฀began฀my฀own฀career฀at฀Kroger฀as฀a฀part-time฀stock฀clerk฀while฀earning฀my฀degree฀at฀the฀
University฀of฀Kentucky,฀so฀I฀know฀first-hand฀the฀opportunities฀that฀are฀available฀to฀our฀associates.฀
One฀of฀the฀things฀that฀makes฀Kroger฀so฀special฀is฀how฀we฀extend฀our฀opportunity฀culture฀to฀everyone.฀
We฀have฀a฀long฀tradition฀of฀hiring฀people฀with฀disabilities,฀especially฀on฀our฀front฀lines฀serving฀customers.฀
Last฀year,฀Kroger฀was฀recognized฀by฀the฀Marriott Foundation for People with Disabilities and separately
by฀the Ohio Governor’s Council on People with Disabilities฀for฀significantly฀contributing฀to฀employment฀
opportunities฀for฀the฀disability฀community.