4 Things Tennesseans Pay More for at Kroger Than They Realize
You only need a few things, so you place a quick Kroger Pickup order on your way home from work.
That short list can come with a charge you won’t find on any shelf tag.
These are the Kroger costs many Tennesseans don’t notice until they check their receipt.
Note: This is general information, not tax advice. Sales tax rates and Kroger’s fees are subject to change.
1. Hot Deli Food
A Kroger receipt in Tennessee can show two different sales tax rates.
Hot deli food gets the higher rate.
Groceries carry a state rate of 4%.
Prepared food, which covers food sold hot or heated by the seller, gets the general 7% rate instead.
Local tax comes on top of both, and it can add up to another 2.75%.
If you grab a hot meal from the deli case, it rings up at the higher rate.
Your milk stays at 4%.
What Counts as Prepared Food at Kroger
A Kroger deli item can count as prepared food in Tennessee without being hot.
Tennessee treats a food as prepared when the seller mixes two or more food ingredients into a single item for sale.
The same goes when the seller provides eating utensils with the food.
On a $20 deli meal, the 7% state rate comes to $1.40, compared with 80 cents at the 4% grocery rate, before local tax.
2. Candy and Vitamins
Does Kroger’s candy aisle ring up like the groceries around it?
It doesn’t in Tennessee, which taxes candy at the standard 7% state rate instead of the 4% groceries get.
Tennessee defines candy as sweeteners combined with chocolate, fruits, nuts or other flavorings, in bars, drops or pieces.
That includes most Halloween candy.
Dietary supplements are taxed at the same 7% rate, so many products in the vitamin aisle ring up higher too.
If $10 of your $100 cart is candy and vitamins, you owe $4.30 in state tax instead of $4.00.
3. Small Pickup Orders
Kroger Pickup is free on an order of $35 or more, but a smaller order carries a $4.95 service fee.
That flat fee applies to any order under $35, even an order of $34.99.
No grocer’s pickup program gets everything right, and a $4.95 fee on a short list is the part we’d skip.
If you accept a substitution for an out-of-stock item, Kroger charges you the price of the substituted item.
A swap can cost more.
The final price may change because of coupons, taxes or weighted items.
Psst! How much do you know about Kroger and the history of grocery shopping? Take our quiz and see if you can ace it.
Quiz
Grocery Store Trivia
Answer these questions on Kroger and the history of grocery shopping. We bet you can’t get them all right. Prove us wrong?
A Memphis grocer opened in September 1916 and let shoppers pick items off the shelves. Which store was it?
4. Delivery Fees
Kroger Delivery isn't free for everyone.
The standard delivery fee is listed at $9.95, though fees vary by day and time slot.
Express Delivery adds a $4.95 surcharge on top, which brings that standard fee to $14.90.
Instacart, which fulfills Express Delivery orders, refunds that surcharge when an Express order arrives more than 15 minutes late.
Members of Kroger's paid Boost program get free delivery on orders of $35 or more.
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits can't pay delivery fees, so you'll cover those charges with another card.
Kroger charges that backup card if your final total goes over the total shown at checkout.
Prices of items ordered online may differ from the prices in physical stores.
Kroger Fuel Points
Kroger Points take 10 cents a gallon off fuel for every 100 points, up to $1 a gallon.
The discount covers one fuel purchase of up to 35 gallons, so it tops out at $35 at most locations, according to the Kroger Points FAQ.
Many groceries earn one point for every $1 spent.
That makes a full $1 a gallon worth 1,000 points, or about $1,000 in grocery spending.
Points expire at the end of the month after you earn them.
If you fill up with no balance, you pay as much as $35 more than you would with the top discount.
The Boost Free Trial
Kroger Boost membership starts with a 30-day free trial, and the trial asks for your payment information up front.
Once the trial ends, your card is charged for an annual membership unless you cancel first.
Day 30 is the deadline.
Each household gets one free trial.
Nashville's Local Rate
Kroger's Nashville stores ring up the highest local sales tax Tennessee allows.
Counties and incorporated cities set the local sales tax, and the 2.75% cap is the highest a rate can go.
Nashville has sat at that ceiling since Davidson County added a 0.5% transit surcharge on February 1, 2025.
On $100 of groceries at a Nashville Kroger, you pay $6.75 in sales tax. On $100 of hot deli food, you pay $9.75.
The gap is three points.
Kroger has 114 grocery stores across 54 cities in Tennessee, and a store in another county can charge a lower local rate.
Next Door in Kentucky
Kroger has 109 grocery stores across 55 cities in Kentucky.
Kentucky's sales tax doesn't apply to food and food ingredients for human consumption.
Candy and prepared food are the exceptions, so you pay tax on a hot deli meal on both sides of the state line.
The difference is groceries.
If you shop a Tennessee Kroger, your bag of flour carries the 4% state rate, and the same bag in Kentucky carries no state sales tax.
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