Kroger has stopped selling Red Bull nationwide, grocer confirms

CINCINNATI (CINCINNATI ENQUIRER) -Supermarket giant Kroger has clipped Red Bull’s wings as the grocer has stopped selling the popular energy drink at all its stores and fuel centers nationwide, the supermarket giant confirmed to our media partners at the Cincinnati Enquirer.

The last of the product by the Austria-based beverage company was sold in August and its coolers and displays were removed from stores as of Aug. 31, company officials said. They declined to explain why the grocer stopped selling the product, even as it continues to sell other energy drink brands, such as Monster, Alani Nu, Bloom, Rockstar and NOS.

Kroger vows to push back on higher prices amid Boar’s Head disruption

The disappearance of the brand follows the partial vanishing act by premium deli meat brand Boar’s Head in some Kroger stores in Greater Cincinnati. It also comes as Kroger’s new CEO Greg Foran has vowed to push back against higher prices from food companies and other suppliers as lingering inflation weighs on shoppers. On a Sept. 11 conference call, Foran said he wouldn’t tolerate vendors “using inflation” to boost their sales when customers were clearly “under pressure.”

Officials with Red Bull did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A former Walmart executive, Foran has pledged to lower prices in his bid to reboot Kroger’s sales growth.

Foran also said if Kroger couldn’t find acceptable prices from vendors, the grocer would stock more of its house-branded items that generated $39 billion in sales last year, more than a quarter of the company’s total $148 billion in revenue. He added Kroger already plans to expand on value private brand, Smart Way, from about 130 items to 1,000.

Kroger is America’s largest supermarket chain

A Fortune 500 company based in downtown Cincinnati, Kroger operates nearly 2,700 stores in 35 states and the District of Columbia, including 77 in Greater Cincinnati. The company employs 403,000 workers, including nearly 20,000 in the Greater Cincinnati region.

The retailer operates stores under the Kroger banner name as well as Fred Meyer, Ralphs, Harris Teeter, Pick ‘n Save, Dillons, King Soopers, Mariano’s, Fry’s, QFC and others.

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