Kroger Targets 3% Comparable Sales Growth by 2029

Kroger told investors on Tuesday in New York City that it expects 3% comparable sales growth in 2029, excluding fuel and pharmacy, plus a 3%-6% adjusted EBITDA (operating profit before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) compound annual growth rate for fiscal 2027 through fiscal 2029. The grocer also reiterated its full-year 2026 guidance. The numbers anchor a multiyear strategy built on three pillars, and they arrive one week after a decision with harder edges: laying off up to 3,000 corporate workers.

The plan is self-funded. Kroger intends to pay for customer-facing value investments out of its own savings rather than borrowed money, a discipline that limits upside but also limits balance-sheet risk. Whether the savings materialize at the scale implied remains undisclosed.

What are the three pillars?

• Win with the customer. Kroger will invest in areas of strength, including Fresh and meals, grow Our Brands (its private-label program) penetration, expand Boost membership, and enter markets where it sees attractive returns.
• Drive profitable digital growth. The company expects to grow ecommerce sales and Retail Media revenue, capture more of customers' online shopping, and accelerate Kroger Precision Marketing, its data-driven advertising arm.
• Modernize how it operates. Direct sourcing, disciplined purchasing, streamlined processes and a more scalable operating model, with technology and AI improving execution, are expected to generate savings that fund customer value and growth.

Each pillar carries a familiar logic for a grocer facing margin pressure: cost savings upstream, monetization of shopper data downstream. Neither the presentation nor the announcement quantified the expected savings, the ecommerce growth rate, or the Retail Media revenue baseline. Those omissions matter.

"Kroger has a clear opportunity to unlock our full potential and build America's Favorite Grocer," CEO Greg Foran said. "We are making value more visible and focusing resources closer to the customer where we see the highest returns. With our customers at the center, we are simplifying and modernizing our business to deliver a great customer experience and provide long-term value to our shareholders."

A promise, yes. Followed by a caveat: "unlock our full potential" is an aspiration, not a measurable commitment, and the only hard labor input disclosed so far is the workforce reduction.

Where will the money come from?

The cost side is already moving. Last week Kroger announced it would lay off up to 3,000 corporate workers to cut costs; the Cincinnati-based grocer could redirect some of those savings toward lower prices. For a retailer whose gross margin lives or dies on price perception against Walmart and Aldi, that trade — overhead for shelf price — is the core of the "self-funded" claim.

The supplier channel is moving too, and with visible friction. Kroger pulled Boar's Head deli products from some stores for roughly a month, a move many observers attribute to pricing disputes, and the grocer no longer carries Red Bull energy drinks. Dropping national brands is a blunt instrument of channel power (a distributor's or retailer's leverage over suppliers in negotiations), and it signals that the "disciplined purchasing" pillar has teeth. It also carries assortment risk that no executive quantified.

What is measured versus asserted?

Measured: the 3% comparable sales target for 2029, the 3%-6% adjusted EBITDA CAGR window for FY2027-FY2029, the reiterated 2026 guidance, and the up-to-3,000 corporate layoffs.

Asserted: savings from direct sourcing and AI-driven execution, profitable digital growth, Retail Media acceleration, and returns from new market expansion. No dollar figures, timelines or interim milestones accompanied these claims in the announcement.

For consumer goods suppliers, the practical implication is straightforward. A grocer that has already delisted Red Bull and squeezed Boar's Head, while cutting 3,000 corporate roles to fund price investment, is preparing to press vendors harder on terms. Private-label expansion under Our Brands adds a substitution threat inside every category negotiation.

Kroger has now set its 2029 markers publicly. The market will judge the plan against quarterly comparable sales and EBITDA progression beginning with fiscal 2026 results, and against whether the promised supplier-funded and internally generated savings show up in gross margin rather than in further headcount reductions.