People

Kroger operates more than 1,900 pharmacies in the U.S. We are adding additional vaccination services where we can, such as the shingles vaccine. Our customers’ health and well being are enhanced by the counseling and guidance that our pharmacists provide each day.

Our $4 generic prescription program is available in our pharmacies and includes 90-day prescription supplies for $10. This program has saved customers millions of dollars on the drugs they depend on every day. Please visit our site for more information. In addition, we are proud to now offer an interactive online Health and Wellness tool which helps customers discover the best over the counter products and solutions to meet their individual needs. Please visit our health guide for more information.

Our pharmacy team is currently expanding our Medication Therapy Management (MTM) program across all divisions. MTM provides medication consultations to improve patients’ compliance and therapy outcomes. Additionally, Kroger offers pharmacist-provided clinical services in nearly all of our stores. This includes diabetes coaching, nutrition and fitness coaching, and smoking cessation.

We believe we have industry leading safety results that make our stores, manufacturing plants and facilities among the safest places to work in America. Safety is a core value at Kroger. Keeping our 338,000 associates safe is one way we demonstrate our commitment to them.

Our ultimate safety goal is zero accidents.

In 1995, Kroger launched a safety initiative that has resulted in a 72% reduction in the overall accident rate in our stores and warehouses. We continue to make progress. In 2010, Kroger had 398 less OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Association) recordable accidents, 1,549 retail locations operated without an associate lost-time accident, and our retail and logistics accident rate dropped by 4.4% to 4.3 FTE*.

*The FTE rate is a nationally accepted standard for measuring injuries for every 100 full time equivalent associates.

We offer competitive wages, high-quality health care benefits, secure pensions and retirement savings plans for our associates.

Our Company’s total rewards package, which includes wages, perks and discounts, and other benefits is among the best in the retail food industry. It is designed to attract and retain talented associates. Our Company-sponsored health care plan includes coverage for medical, prescription drugs, dental, vision, disability and life insurance. We also offer same and opposite-sex domestic partner benefits.

Kroger offers Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) to associates covered under the Company plan. Our HSAs focus on preventive health care and pay 100% for preventive care services. There are numerous benefits to these plans, and they give associates a variety of options for structuring health care in a way that best suits their individual and their family’s needs. In 2010, Kroger had a 24% increase in HSA enrollments.

In most cases, our associates pay well below the national average for their health care benefits. In 2010, Kroger spent more than $1.4 billion to provide health care for our associates, their families and retirees.

To learn more about Kroger’s Associate Health Care and Retirement Benefits, please view/download the full report here.

Diversity is one of Kroger’s core values. We want our associates at all levels to reflect the diversity of the communities where we live and work. The Company is committed to fostering an environment of inclusion in which diversity is appreciated as a source of strength and vitality.

Each of Kroger’s retail divisions has developed diversity-related strategic partnerships with universities, educational institutions and community partners that include: the University of Kansas Multicultural Scholars Program, Xavier University of Louisiana, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Multicultural Council of Albuquerque, New Mexico, Greater Dallas Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Scholarship Program, and the YWCA Greater Cincinnati-Mamie Earl Sells Scholarship Program.

Kroger provides inclusion training to all management and many hourly associates, and numerous work locations (stores, plants, divisions) have a culture council. These councils, composed of a diverse array of associates, work on projects that reflect Kroger’s core values of safety, integrity, respect, honesty, diversity and inclusion. They also provide valuable feedback to management by focusing on ways to include more associate input in business decisions and processes.

To learn more about Kroger’s Associate Diversity, please view/download the full report here.

Diversity is one of Kroger’s core values and we have actively sought diversity among our vendor partners for more than 25 years. Minority- and women-owned business enterprises (MBEs and WBEs) provide products, services and perspectives that align with our business strategies and help us better understand both our customers’ needs and trends in the marketplace. We value our business relationships with these M/WBEs because they continue to facilitate employment opportunities in our local communities and their products and services produce positive sales results.

Supplier Diversity Champions

Each Kroger Division and Buying Group has supplier diversity champions committed to ensuring that our supplier diversity goals and initiatives are communicated throughout the organization. These champions hold a variety of positions within the Company and their valuable insights support our continued growth.

Billion Dollar Roundtable

Since 2006, Kroger has spent more than $1 billion annually with minority and women-owned business enterprises. As a result, Kroger is a member of the Billion Dollar Roundtable, a prestigious forum of 18 corporations that have achieved $1 billion or more in annual spending with M/WBEs. We achieved this goal by partnering with more than 950 M/WBE companies in 2010.

Kroger joins 18 other corporate Billion Dollar Roundtable members, including Procter & Gamble, General Motors Corporation and Dell Inc. To learn more about the Billion Dollar Roundtable, visit their website.

In order to work with Kroger, vendors and their contractors in the U.S. and other countries are expected to operate in a manner that respects the rights of people and to abide by our Code of Conduct. This Code requires that they not engage in any labor practices that violate the laws and regulations of the country where the products are manufactured or assembled.

To learn more about Kroger’s Vendor Standards, please view/download the full report here.

We hold ourselves to the highest ethical standards because we understand that, as a publicly-owned Company and as providers of food for millions of Americans and their families, we have a special obligation to go beyond simple compliance.

Kroger is committed to dealing in an ethical manner with our customers, suppliers, associates and shareholders. We believe our reputation is something we earn every day and is a direct result of the actions and efforts of our 338,000 associates. Each of us must adhere to the highest moral, ethical and legal standards. We must demonstrate in our dealings with customers, suppliers and each other Kroger’s core values of honesty, respect, integrity, diversity, inclusion and safety. Only by conducting business in this manner can Kroger continue its success.

Kroger’s Business Ethics Policy clearly outlines what we expect from our associates and members of Kroger’s Board of Directors.

It can be viewed here. Copies are shared with associates and are posted on the Company’s internal and external websites.

The Kroger Co. is committed to upholding high standards of corporate governance. Importantly, one of our five Board Committees is the Corporate Governance Committee. Primarily, this Committee establishes and reviews the practices, policies, and procedures by which our Board performs, identifies qualified Board members, and develops and recommends corporate governance principles to the Board. Our “Guidelines on Issues of Corporate Governance” reflect our approach to governance and we invite you to review these guidelines here.