Food Safety
search
cart
facebook twitter linkedin
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Food Safety
  • NEWS
    • Latest News
    • White Papers
  • PRODUCTS
  • TOPICS
    • Contamination Control
    • Food Types
    • Management
    • Process Control
    • Regulatory
    • Sanitation
    • Supply Chain
    • Testing and Analysis
  • PODCAST
  • EXCLUSIVES
    • Food Safety Five Newsreel
    • eBooks
    • FSM Distinguished Service Award
    • Interactive Product Spotlights
    • Videos
  • BUYER'S GUIDE
  • MORE
    • ENEWSLETTER >
      • Archive Issues
      • Subscribe to eNews
    • Store
    • Sponsor Insights
  • WEBINARS
  • FOOD SAFETY SUMMIT
  • EMAG
    • eMagazine
    • Archive Issues
    • Editorial Advisory Board
    • Contact
    • Advertise
  • SIGN UP!
White Papers

Sealed Air’s Packaging Solution Helps Kroger with Safer Deli Techniques

June 21, 2016

About Kroger
Founded in 1883 in Cincinnati, OH, Kroger is known as an innovator and pioneer in the food retail industry. It’s also one of the world’s largest grocery retailers, with over 2,700 stores and fiscal 2015 sales of $110 billion. Kroger’s family of stores spans 35 states nationwide, with formats including grocery, multi-department, discount, convenience and jewelry stores. Although operating under nearly two-dozen banners, each store shares the same belief in building strong local ties and brand loyalty with its customers.

Taking 4 Decades of Partnership to the Next Level
After nearly 4 decades of partnering with Kroger, time and again Sealed Air has proven its ability to deliver the highest standards in both quality and service to Kroger and its customers with various total packaging solutions throughout the grocer’s meat and deli departments.

In December 2014, Sealed Air secured the opportunity to roll out their innovative solutions behind Kroger deli counters. Several years prior, Kroger’s Private Selection® premium deli meat offerings was converted to the Cryovac® Grip & Tear® packaging solution. These vacuum-packaged bags have an easy-open feature that completely eliminate the need for cutting tools, produce a straight, consistent tear and help maintain optimal freshness and appealing optics with its skin-tight shrink packaging.

Kroger was at the forefront of requesting easy-open packaging and was one of the early adapters of this innovative packaging solution. After evaluating the industries’ options for easy-open, barrier bag formats, Kroger decided Cryovac Grip & Tear packaging solutions were superior—not only for worker safety, but for brand building and operational efficiency as well. As a result, Kroger made Sealed Air their preferred packaging supplier for this initiative.

Kroger recognized the worker and food safety benefits of Cryovac packaging solutions, eliminating the need for knives and other sharp tools and increasing productivity. Additionally, this easy-open packaging allow for customized branding. Kroger positions their private label as a premium brand and Sealed Air took this opportunity to help Kroger reposition their artwork design by placing it in a more prominent location where it could easily be seen. This helped Kroger elevate its brand presence with customers, regardless of where the product was placed in the deli case. This initiative helped position both Kroger and Sealed Air as trailblazers—implementing better safety procedures behind the counter by going knife-free. The size and scope of the project, combined with Kroger’s influence in the industry, provided opportunities to expand Cryovac packaging solutions within Kroger and beyond.

The Challenge
Kroger challenged Sealed Air to migrate its easy-open solutions into their Private Selection brands of cheese behind the full-service deli counters within a 12-month timeframe. As part of this conversion, 10 stock keeping units from four different suppliers were migrated to Grip & Tear packaging, totaling nearly 2 million bags in yearly volume.

To assist in this undertaking, Sealed Air was asked to work directly with Kroger’s suppliers, which presented a challenge—facilitating effective communication between all parties involved to accommodate for the many roles, moving parts and critical intersection ahead. Focused alignment was required to accommodate for this undertaking. Brad Bankson from Kroger Corporate Brands states, “Each one of my suppliers is as unique as the cheese they sell. Their packaging lines are often one-of-a-kind and it takes a team of experts to recognize those differences and deliver consistent results. With the manufacturer and end user in mind, the Sealed Air team performed quickly and decisively to hit our company’s timelines.”

The Solution
In order to build successful relationships with the suppliers, Sealed Air recognized the need for customized solutions. In most cases, suppliers had the appropriate infrastructure in place, making it a smooth transition to Cryovac products.

It was essential that Sealed Air work closely with Kroger to find the solution that best worked for them. “During our discovery process at our Private Selection Cheese manufacturers Sealed Air found it was necessary to be at ground zero with our suppliers as no two machines package alike,” Bankson states.

Early in the process, Sealed Air developed a project scorecard, in order to identify and track potential challenges and keep Kroger informed throughout the process.

The Success
The highly coordinated Sealed Air team consisted of more than half a dozen multifunctional areas such as marketing, sales, graphics to portfolio, research and development and retail task force resources—providing boots on the ground and end-to-end expertise that goes far beyond simply providing products.

For Kroger, it was essential to partner with a company that provided more than just a product solution, but expert support and knowledge in a number of areas.

Initial feedback from suppliers has been very positive. One customer who migrated over from a competitor’s bags with a number of quality issues noted high satisfaction with the Cryovac packaging solution. Another customer, Ronald Weil from Arena Cheese, Inc. states, “We have had no problems on our packaging lines switching from the plain bag to the Sealed Air Grip & Tear bag for Kroger and Private Selection brand of bulk cheeses. Sealed Air has helped us through the design and now manufacturing phase for several of the new cheeses to be introduced this year under Kroger’s premier Private Selection brand. This new bag program enhances both companies presence in the specialty bulk cheese program.”

As a result, the partnership approach taken toward this project not only demonstrated the superiority of Cryovac packaging solutions in the deli segment, but it gave the nation’s largest full-service grocery retailer exposure to the full breadth of Sealed Air capabilities.

To learn more about Sealed Air Corporate, visit SealedAir.com.


Author(s): Sealed Air

Share This Story

Looking for a reprint of this article?
From high-res PDFs to custom plaques, order your copy today!

Recommended Content

JOIN TODAY
to unlock your recommendations.

Already have an account? Sign In

  • people holding baby chicks

    Serovar Differences Matter: Utility of Deep Serotyping in Broiler Production and Processing

    This article discusses the significance of Salmonella in...
    Meat/Poultry
    By: Nikki Shariat Ph.D.
  • woman washing hands

    Building a Culture of Hygiene in the Food Processing Plant

    Everyone entering a food processing facility needs to...
    Food Prep/Handling
    By: Richard F. Stier, M.S.
  • graphical representation of earth over dirt

    Climate Change and Emerging Risks to Food Safety: Building Climate Resilience

    This article examines the multifaceted threats to food...
    Best Practices
    By: Maria Cristina Tirado Ph.D., D.V.M. and Shamini Albert Raj M.A.
Manage My Account
  • eMagazine Subscription
  • Subscribe to eNewsletter
  • Manage My Preferences
  • Website Registration
  • Subscription Customer Service

More Videos

Sponsored Content

Sponsored Content is a special paid section where industry companies provide high quality, objective, non-commercial content around topics of interest to the Food Safety Magazine audience. All Sponsored Content is supplied by the advertising company and any opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily reflect the views of Food Safety Magazine or its parent company, BNP Media. Interested in participating in our Sponsored Content section? Contact your local rep!

close
  • Two men standing in a produce storage facility having a discussion.
    Sponsored byOrkin Commercial

    Staying Compliant With FSMA

  • Deli Salads
    Sponsored byCorbion

    How Food Safety is Becoming the Ultimate Differentiator in Refrigerated and Prepared Foods

Popular Stories

Corporate manager talking with factory employees

Turning Resistance into Opportunity: Motivating Change in the Food Industry

Microphone in a conference room used for receiving public comment

FDA Seeks Input on New Method for Ranking Chemicals in Food for Post-Market Assessments

Image of executive signing legislation into law

Texas Governor Abbott Signs MAHA-Similar Bill into Law

Events

June 26, 2025

How to Design and Conduct Challenge Studies for Safer Products and Longer Shelf Life

Live: June 26, 2025 at 2:00 pm EDT: During this webinar, attendees will learn how to conduct challenge studies for microbial spoilage and pathogen growth, including the common challenges encountered, laboratory selection, and use of predictive models.

July 15, 2025

Hygienic Design Risk Management: Industry Challenges and EHEDG Guidance

Live: July 15, 2025 at 11:00 am EDT: From this webinar, attendees will learn the importance of hygienic design to ensure food safety and sanitation effectiveness.

July 22, 2025

Beyond the Binder: Digital Management of Food Safety

Live: July 22, 2025 at 3:00 pm EDT: During this webinar, attendees will learn best practices for the use of digital food safety management systems across industry and regulatory agencies.

View All

Products

Global Food Safety Microbial Interventions and Molecular Advancements

Global Food Safety Microbial Interventions and Molecular Advancements

See More Products
Environmental Monitoring Excellence eBook

Related Articles

  • Safety and Sustainability: The Call for Resourceful Packaging

    See More
  • How Technology Can Help with Own-label Packaging Challenges

    See More
  • Food Safety and Packaging: How to Keep Up With Consumer Concerns

    See More
×

Never miss the latest news and trends driving the food safety industry

eNewsletter | Website | eMagazine

JOIN TODAY!
  • RESOURCES
    • Advertise
    • Contact Us
    • Directories
    • Store
    • Want More
  • SIGN UP TODAY
    • Create Account
    • eMagazine
    • eNewsletter
    • Customer Service
    • Manage Preferences
  • SERVICES
    • Marketing Services
    • Reprints
    • Market Research
    • List Rental
    • Survey/Respondent Access
  • STAY CONNECTED
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • X (Twitter)
  • PRIVACY
    • PRIVACY POLICY
    • TERMS & CONDITIONS
    • DO NOT SELL MY PERSONAL INFORMATION
    • PRIVACY REQUEST
    • ACCESSIBILITY

Copyright ©2025. All Rights Reserved BNP Media.

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing