Kroger shoppers soon to enjoy Ukrop’s rolls and more

Starting next month, Ukrop’s popular White House Rolls will be available in about 1,100 Kroger stores in  20 states.

Ukrop’s Homestyle Foods will also begin selling about 50 food items, including some of its sandwiches, green salads and chilled prepared foods at Kroger stores in the Louisville, Ky., market next week.

The deal with Kroger, the nation’s largest traditional grocery retailer, is a big step for the Ukrop family business as it continues its evolution from being a traditional grocer to a food manufacturer after selling it’s 25 Ukrop’s Super Markets locations to Martin’s Food Markets in 2010.

The expansion puts the White House Rolls in a total of about 29 states in stores that include Kroger, Martin’s Food Markets, The Fresh Market and Giant Eagle.

In Kroger stores the rolls and fresh food products will be sold under the Good Meadow Homemades brand.

Ukrops  had a long history of selling prepared foods and baked goods that it made for its own stores. Prepared foods had accounted for 12 percent of the grocery chain’s revenue prior to it’s sale to Martins.

Beginning in 1989, Ukrop’s chilled prepared foods quickly became customer favorites; and over the course of two decades, a menu of 150 items was created centrally at Ukrop’s Kitchen.  Ukrop’s Breast of Chicken Salad, Triple Cheese Macaroni and Cheese, and Old Fashioned Potato Salad are among the tops that we still make today.

In 2010, Ukrop’s Super Markets sold its grocery stores after being in the retail food business for more than 72 years.  At the same time, members of the Ukrop family launched a new company, Ukrop’s Homestyle Foods, to continue the tradition of producing the fresh and delicious foods that have become staples in homes throughout Richmond and beyond.

“because we’re always listening to our customers, we knew that bringing some of those favorite products back to the table, under the Good Meadows and Mrs. Marshall’s name, would be well-received by our customers — here in the Richmond market and elsewhere,” said Carl York, spokesman for Kroger’s Mid-Atlantic region.

Read more about grocery shopping options in Williamsburg VA here