UNITED STATES | US supermarket retailer Kroger is sharpening its focus on lower prices and sourcing efficiencies as grocery retailers continue to balance customer affordability against costs throughout the supply chain.
Kroger’s online store currently lists a number of Red Bull products as unavailable for pickup and delivery. The retailer has not provided an explanation on its corporate website for the product’s availability.
Industry commentary, however, has linked Red Bull’s absence from Kroger stores to negotiations between the retailer and supplier over pricing. Reports have suggested Kroger stopped ordering the brand after proposed price increases, although neither Kroger nor Red Bull has publicly confirmed those details.
The situation comes as Kroger chief executive Greg Foran has outlined a broader strategy centred on affordability, cost reduction and greater penetration of Kroger’s own brands.
In a recent letter to shareholders, Foran said Kroger needed to operate more efficiently across areas including product sourcing, goods and services, and its organisational structure.
“Every dollar saved goes somewhere specific – lowering prices and improving the customer experience,” said Foran.
Kroger is also looking to its own-brand portfolio as part of that strategy. Foran said increasing owned-brand penetration could help customers save while improving shareholder value, with the retailer also lowering prices and reviewing its operations for further cost savings.
The challenge is familiar in New Zealand, where supplier costs continue to move while retailers remain under pressure to deliver value to shoppers.
The latest Infometrics-Foodstuffs New Zealand Grocery Supplier Cost Index showed the average cost of goods charged by suppliers to Foodstuffs supermarkets increased 1.9 percent in August 2026 compared with a year earlier.
More than 5,400 products increased in cost between July and August. Infometrics said the larger number of monthly increases was partly due to further fuel adjustment factors, while there was also a large number of cost decreases as earlier fuel adjustments ended.
Supplier costs increased across all departments compared with a year earlier, with seafood and butchery recording the largest increases. Costs for some sauces, canned goods and toilet paper also increased.
Infometrics principal economist Brad Olsen said the data showed a more elevated number of cost increases, although the size of most changes remained moderate.
Kroger and New Zealand supermarkets operate in very different markets, but the underlying commercial pressure is recognisable. Retailers are looking for ways to protect value at the shelf while suppliers continue to manage changes in their own cost bases.
For Kroger, Foran has made clear that sourcing, supply-chain efficiencies and own brands are part of that response. For New Zealand retailers and suppliers, the latest cost data shows the same equation remains firmly in play: where costs can be absorbed, where efficiencies can be found, and ultimately what reaches the shelf price.
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