Kroger 2014 Annual Report Download - page 63

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61
TH E B O A R D O F D I R E C T O R S R E C O M M E N D S A V O T E A G A I N S T T H I S P R O P O S A L F O R T H E
FO L L O W I N G R E A S O N S :
As฀one฀of฀the฀largest฀retailers฀of฀natural฀and฀organic฀food,฀Kroger฀offers฀a฀wide฀variety฀of฀private฀label฀
and฀national฀brand฀antibiotic฀free฀meat฀items฀in฀our฀stores.฀In฀2012,฀we฀introduced฀our฀private฀label฀Simple฀
Truth®฀and฀Simple฀Truth฀Organic®฀brands฀of฀natural฀and฀organic฀products.฀All฀of฀the฀meat฀items฀with฀the฀
Simple฀Truth฀and฀Simple฀Truth฀Organic฀label฀are฀antibiotic฀free฀and฀are฀available฀in฀our฀stores.฀This฀includes฀
beef,฀pork,฀and฀poultry.฀
Many฀of฀our฀customers฀have฀indicated฀a฀preference฀for฀antibiotic฀free฀meat฀items.฀In฀fact,฀sales฀of฀Simple฀
Truth฀and฀Simple฀Truth฀Organic฀and฀other฀antibiotic฀free฀items฀have฀increased฀significantly฀in฀the฀past฀several฀
years฀and฀we฀expect฀ to฀ see฀ continued฀growth฀ in฀ these฀ items.฀ That’s฀ why฀ we฀are฀ continuing฀ to฀ offer฀new฀
antibiotic฀free฀items฀and฀working฀with฀suppliers฀as฀they฀transition฀their฀products฀to฀antibiotic฀free.฀We฀will฀
continue to monitor the purchasing practices of our customers and will continue to meet their demand to the
extent฀our฀suppliers฀are฀able฀to฀do฀so.฀We฀do฀not฀believe,฀however,฀that฀given฀current฀customer฀preferences฀
and฀ availability฀of฀product฀ it฀is฀appropriate฀to฀immediately฀phase฀ out฀all฀ non-antibiotic-free฀ meats฀or฀set฀a฀
date-certain฀for฀when฀a฀transition฀should฀be฀complete.฀
As฀ such,฀ we฀ believe฀ that฀ the฀ requested฀ report฀ would฀ serve฀ little฀ benefit฀ to฀ our฀ shareholders,฀ and฀
preparation฀of฀a฀report฀would฀divert฀resources฀that฀otherwise฀could฀be฀more฀appropriately฀used฀in฀the฀best฀
interests of our shareholders.
SHAREHOLDER฀PROPOSALS฀AND฀DIRECTOR฀NOMINATIONS฀–฀2016฀ANNUAL฀MEETING.฀Shareholder฀
proposals฀and฀director฀nominations฀intended฀for฀inclusion฀in฀the฀proxy฀material฀relating฀to฀Kroger’s฀annual฀
meeting฀of฀shareholders฀in฀June฀2016฀should฀be฀addressed฀to฀Kroger’s฀Secretary฀and฀must฀be฀received฀at฀our฀
executive฀offices฀not฀later฀than฀January฀13,฀2016.฀These฀proposals฀must฀comply฀with฀Rule฀14a-8฀and฀the฀SEC’s฀
proxy฀rules.฀
In฀addition,฀Kroger’s฀Regulations฀contain฀an฀advance฀notice฀of฀shareholder฀business฀and฀nominations฀
requirement,฀ which฀ generally฀ prescribes฀ the฀ procedures฀ that฀ a฀ shareholder฀ of฀ Kroger฀ must฀ follow฀ if฀ the฀
shareholder฀intends,฀at฀an฀annual฀meeting,฀to฀nominate฀a฀person฀for฀election฀to฀Kroger’s฀Board฀of฀Directors฀
or฀ to฀ propose฀ other฀ business฀ to฀ be฀ considered฀ by฀ shareholders.฀ These฀ procedures฀ include,฀ among฀ other฀
things,฀that฀the฀shareholder฀give฀timely฀ notice฀to฀Kroger’s฀Secretary฀ of฀the฀nomination฀or฀other฀proposed฀
business,฀that฀the฀notice฀contain฀specified฀information,฀and฀that฀the฀shareholder฀comply฀with฀certain฀other฀
requirements.฀ In฀order฀ to฀be฀ timely,฀ this฀notice฀must฀be฀delivered฀in฀writing฀ to฀Kroger’s฀ Secretary,฀ at฀ our฀
principal฀executive฀offices,฀not฀later฀45฀calendar฀ days฀prior฀to฀the฀date฀on฀which฀our฀ proxy฀statement฀ for฀
the฀prior฀year’s฀ annual฀ meeting฀of฀shareholders฀was฀mailed฀ to฀shareholders.฀If฀a฀shareholder’s฀ nomination฀
or proposal is not in compliance with the procedures set forth in the Regulations, we may disregard such
nomination฀ or฀ proposal.฀ Accordingly,฀ if฀a฀shareholder฀intends,฀ at฀ the฀ 2016฀annual฀ meeting,฀ to฀ nominate฀ a฀
person฀for฀election฀to฀the฀Board฀of฀Directors฀or฀to฀propose฀other฀business,฀the฀shareholder฀must฀deliver฀a฀
notice฀of฀such฀nomination฀or฀proposal฀to฀Kroger’s฀Secretary฀not฀later฀March฀29,฀2016,฀and฀comply฀with฀the฀
requirements฀of฀the฀Regulations.฀If฀a฀shareholder฀submits฀a฀proposal฀outside฀of฀Rule฀14a-8฀for฀the฀2015฀Annual฀
Meeting฀and฀such฀proposal฀is฀not฀delivered฀within฀the฀time฀frame฀specified฀in฀the฀Regulations,฀Kroger’s฀proxy฀
may฀confer฀discretionary฀authority฀on฀persons฀being฀appointed฀as฀proxies฀on฀behalf฀of฀Kroger฀to฀vote฀on฀such฀
proposal.฀Shareholder฀proposals,฀director฀nominations฀and฀advance฀notices฀should฀be฀addressed฀in฀writing฀to:฀
Secretary,฀The฀Kroger฀Co.,฀1014฀Vine฀Street,฀Cincinnati,฀Ohio฀45202-1100.
Attached฀to฀this฀Proxy฀Statement฀is฀our฀2014฀Annual฀Report฀which฀includes฀a฀brief฀description฀of฀our฀
business,฀including฀the฀general฀scope฀and฀nature฀thereof฀during฀fiscal฀year฀2014,฀together฀with฀the฀audited฀
financial฀ information฀ contained฀ in฀ our฀ 2014฀ Annual฀ Report฀ on฀ Form฀ 10-K฀ filed฀ with฀ the฀ SEC.฀ A copy of
that report is available to shareholders on request without charge by writing to: Todd A. Foley,
Treasurer, The Kroger Co., 1014 Vine Street, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202-1100 or by calling 513-762-1220.
Our฀SEC฀filings฀are฀available฀to฀the฀public฀on฀the฀SEC’s฀website฀at฀www.sec.gov.