Chicago-based Home Chef, one of the largest meal-kit delivery companies in the country, announced a merger with Kroger on Wednesday.
Home Chef delivers ingredients and recipes weekly to customers nationwide. Kroger will pay $200 million for Chicago-based Home Chef, and may pay an additional $500 million over five years if sales reach certain milestones. Kroger plans to put Home Chef kits in its supermarkets.
“We’ve long believed that the future of our industry is omni-channel and bigger than just meal kits sold online. We want to be where our customers are and want to help make cooking at home easier, more accessible and even more enjoyable,” said Pat Vihtelic, Home Chef’s founder and CEO. “Kroger’s expansive retail footprint will allow us to serve millions of more customers across the country with simple, convenient and enjoyable meal solutions.”
Home Chef will continue offering their meal-kits through their website, in addition to Kroger stores, the company said.
Founded in 2013, Home Chef currently employs about 1,000 people in Chicago and at their distribution centers in Atlanta and San Bernardino.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
