Kroger Says Price Cuts Are Coming, and Ohioans Want to Know When
You’ve heard Kroger is cutting prices. Has your Ohio store gotten the memo?
Kroger says widespread price cuts are coming, but it hasn’t said when they’ll reach your store.
More details are due at the chain’s October 20 Investor Day.
Until then, a big price test is the best measure we have of how far apart Kroger and Walmart were.
The Price Cut Plan
Greg Foran is Kroger’s new chief executive, or CEO.
In May, he told Bloomberg the chain plans widespread price cuts, Grocery Dive says.
Foran used to be a top Walmart executive. He took over in February as CEO of the Cincinnati-based chain.
Local 12 in Cincinnati said that he told Bloomberg the cuts need to reach thousands of products.
Grocery Dive said in May that Foran didn’t say when the cuts would happen.
He also didn’t say how much they would cost.
The same report said Kroger is preparing to test the cuts. Then it will roll them out widely to stores.
To help pay for them, Kroger plans to import more products directly. It also plans to use technology better, the same report said.
Foran hasn’t said when the cuts will reach your store.
What Kroger Said in September
On Kroger’s September earnings call, Foran called the price plan a multiyear program.
He said Kroger has already invested geographically. He did not share exact figures.
He said more details would come in October, at that investor event.
As of January 31, 2026, Kroger had 2,697 supermarkets in 35 states and the District of Columbia.
That’s from its annual report.
That is a lot of stores to reach before the cuts get to yours.
The Consumer Reports Test
Kroger’s price gap comes from a Consumer Reports study. It asked the Strategic Resource Group to run it.
That’s a New York retail and grocery research company.
Researchers priced groceries in person, from store shelves. Walmart was the baseline for every comparison.
Across the six metro areas, Kroger’s prices averaged 14.8% above Walmart’s. TheStreet says Consumer Reports found this.
Spend $100 at Walmart?
By that math, the same items would cost about $114.80 at Kroger.
Two of Kroger’s lower-priced banners, King Soopers and Food 4 Less, priced 7.9% and 9% above Walmart.
Neither beat Walmart.
How Kroger’s 14.8% Was Counted
The 14.8% gap reflects sale prices and the discounts a shopper gets with a free store loyalty card.
It leaves out manufacturer coupons. It also leaves out savings you can only get through a phone app.
Do you clip coupons or shop through the app? Then your Kroger total can land below what the test measured.
When the Prices Were Collected
The 14.8% gap comes from prices collected in late summer 2025. Your receipt today may look different.
Foran didn’t become CEO until February 2026.
So the test priced Kroger months before Foran arrived.
So a price test from before the cuts can’t tell you if the cuts worked.
Psst! How much do you know about grocery price claims? Take our quiz and see if you can ace it.
Quiz
Grocery Price IQ
Answer these questions on grocery prices, barcodes and Kroger history. We bet you can’t get them all right. Prove us wrong?
The first barcode ever scanned at a checkout, in 1974, was rung up at a supermarket in which Ohio town?
Where Kroger Ranked
Kroger landed close to the middle of the 35 chains Consumer Reports priced.
That is from the full ranking Food & Wine published.
Walmart was the baseline, not the floor.
Costco priced 21.4% below it.
Kroger wasn't the priciest.
Meijer, a store you might split trips with, priced 9.9% above Walmart.
Food Lion priced 12.5% above Walmart, and Hannaford 13.2%. Both cost shoppers less than Kroger did.
Albertsons priced 24.8% above Walmart.
It is the company at the center of Kroger's terminated merger deal.
The Goal Behind the Cuts
Foran said Kroger's goal isn't to match the prices of some discounters, Grocery Dive says.
He said Kroger wants prices that are more competitive and more consistent. They should be easier for you to understand, too.
Foran said the aim is for you to feel that Kroger's prices are fair and reasonable.
On the September call, Foran said Kroger will grow Smart Way, its opening price point brand.
It has about 130 items now. Kroger plans 1,000 over the next year or so.
That is nearly eight times as many.
Kroger's Latest Sales Numbers
Kroger's September 11 earnings report shows its key sales number rose 0.2% in the second quarter.
Kroger calls it identical sales without fuel.
Kroger gives it to investors as a measure of sales at its stores.
It leaves out fuel.
Sales barely moved.
Every $100 of sales a year earlier became about $100.20.
Grocery Dive said an outbreak of cyclospora pushed shoppers away from fresh fruits and vegetables.
Kroger also cut its full-year 2026 forecast for identical sales. The new range is 0.2% to 0.8%, down from 1.0% to 2.0%.
TheStreet says Foran has admitted that Kroger's promotions got too complicated. He also said its prices haven't kept pace.
Grocery Dive cited research from AlixPartners.
It found that just 13% of regular shoppers at traditional supermarkets believe those stores have low prices.
That is roughly 1 in 8.
Flat sales and few shoppers who see low prices help explain the price cuts you keep hearing about.
Your Store and the Number
Consumer Reports priced groceries in six metro areas. News coverage of Kroger's 14.8% gap gives one number.
That figure can't tell you what the Kroger on your corner charges.
Stores differ.
Consumer Reports looked at mainstream chains in each of the six cities. It found the gap between the highest- and lowest-priced chain was more than 33%.
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