ONE YEAR LATER, PRIVATE SELECTION RANKS AMONG MOST SUCCESSFUL BRAND LAUNCHES IN KROGER HISTORY
Company’s Premium Brand Marks First Anniversary with A Seal from Good Housekeeping, Growing Sales, and Broader Variety

CINCINNATI, OH, October 18, 2001 – Just a year after the national rollout of its first brand of premium-quality products, The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) today said Private Selection ranks among the most successful launches in the Company’s 118-year history.

Five Private Selection products recently earned the Good Housekeeping seal: sliced deli meats; ice cream; 64-ounce not from concentrate apple juice; imported pasta; and brownie bites. Since 1909, the Good Housekeeping seal has been a highly recognized statement of the magazine's renowned Consumers' Policy, which states that if a product bearing the seal proves to be defective within two years of purchase, Good Housekeeping will replace the product or refund the purchase price.

More than 470 products – up from fewer than 300 a year ago – now carry the Private Selection label, including a wide variety of sliced deli meats, frozen entrees, ice cream, cheese, preserves, specialty crackers and sauces. Among the items introduced over the past year are imported pasta, Olathe sweet corn from Colorado, and gourmet spices.

Sales of Private Selection items are growing in every division and now account for approximately 6% of Kroger’s total corporate brand sales.

“The growth of Private Selection has exceeded our expectations,” said Don McGeorge, Kroger executive vice president. “The brand has been very well received by consumers because it offers a wide variety of high-quality products that are an affordable alternative to the leading premium national brands. That combination of quality and value is more important than ever in a challenging economic environment.”

Items must pass a rigorous taste and performance evaluation before they can earn the Private Selection label. Every item carries a satisfaction guarantee. If customers are not completely satisfied with any item, they can return it to the place of purchase for a refund of the purchase price or a replacement.

Headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, Kroger is one of the nation’s largest retail grocery chains. At the end of the second quarter, the Company operated 2,392 supermarkets and multi-department stores in 32 states under approximately two dozen banners, including Kroger, Ralphs, Fred Meyer, Food 4 Less, King Soopers, Smith’s, Fry’s and Fry’s Marketplace, Dillon, QFC and City Market. Kroger also operates 788 convenience stores, 420 fine jewelry stores, 143 supermarket fuel centers and 41 food processing plants.

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