Kroger Announces 2021 Go Fresh & Local Supplier Accelerator Cohort
America's largest grocery retailer creates retail partnerships with five standout small businesses
The Kroger Co. announced its inaugural Go Fresh & Local Supplier Accelerator cohort – Maazah, Nona Lim, Queen Charlotte's Pimento Cheese Royale, Simply Southern Sides, and Soupergirl.
Earlier this year, Kroger invited growers and producers to join the retailer's first Go Fresh & Local Supplier Accelerator. In collaboration with Efficient Collaborative Retail Marketing and RangeMe, Kroger reviewed more than 1,000 applications, selecting 15 finalists to participate in a pitch competition. The finalists recently traveled to Cincinnati for the pitch competition, which was judged by Milen Mahadevan, president of 84.51°; Valerie Jabbar, senior vice president of retail divisions at Kroger; Nick Tranchina, president of Murray's Cheese; Patrick Vihtelic, founder and CEO of HomeChef; Dan De La Rosa, group vice president of fresh merchandising at Kroger; and Brian Kelley, CEO of PearlRock Partners.