Filing: #Kroger paid #CEO $19M in 2022, typical worker almost $29K

by Alexander Coolidge Cincinnati Enquirer
May 12, 2023

"Kroger CEO #RodneyMcMullen got a 5.7% pay raise in 2022 as his compensation package climbed $1 million to $19 million, according to a corporate filing Friday morning with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

"The head of the nation's largest supermarket retailer was paid $18 million in the previous year, according to the Associated Press' methodology for executive compensation that excludes pension value changes.

"The typical worker got an $1,800 pay raise, climbing 7% in 2022 to $28,644. The ratio of McMullen's pay to the median Kroger worker – as required to be reported by the government – was 671 to 1, a decline from the ratio of 679 to 1 in the previous year.

"Kroger earned a $2.2 billion #profit on sales of $148 billion last year. In 2022, Kroger contended with higher costs as inflation soared. Overall inflation eased in 2022, climbing 6.4% - slower than 7.2% a year earlier. But the cost of food purchased at #supermarkets and #supercenters rose at a faster rate: 11.8% - the worst calendar year increase since 1978, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

"Also last year, the grocer proposed acquiring rival #Albertsons in a $25 billion takeover bid that regulators at the Federal Trade Commission are mulling whether to approve or fight.

"In addition to Kroger stores, the Cincinnati-based grocer operates several regional supermarket chains in 35 states, including #FredMeyer, #HarrisTeeter, #Ralphs, #Marianos, #Frys, Smith's, #KingSoopers, #QFC and others. The company has nearly 2,800 stores and employs 430,000 workers."

https://www.cincinnati.com/story/money/2023/05/12/kroger-ceo-paid-19m-in-2022-while-median-worker-earned-28-6k/70211231007/

#CorporatePriceGouging #Inflation #CEOPay #ObsceneProfits #FoodInsecurity #PeopleAndPlanetOverProfits #PriceGouging

During #Antitrust Trial, Exec Admits #Kroger Jacked Up Milk and Egg Prices Above Inflation

"The U.S. #grocery sector—dominated by Kroger, #Walmart, and a handful of other major companies—profited hugely during the Covid-19 pandemic as corporate giants exploited supply chain disruptions to aggressively jack up prices."

Jake Johnson
Aug 28, 2024

"A top Kroger executive admitted under questioning from a Federal Trade Commission attorney on Tuesday that the grocery chain raised its egg and milk prices above the rate of inflation, a concession that came as no surprise to economists who have been highlighting #corporate #PriceGouging across the U.S. economy in recent years.

"Andy Groff, Kroger's senior director for pricing, said during a court hearing on the FTC's legal challenge to the company's proposed acquisition of #Albertsons—its primary competitor—that Kroger's objective is to 'pass through our inflation to consumers.'

"Groff's comment came in response to questioning about an internal email he sent to other Kroger executives in March. In that note, Groff observed that 'on milk and eggs, retail inflation has been significantly higher than cost inflation.'

"A Kroger spokesperson told Bloomberg in a statement that the email was 'cherry-picked' and 'does not reflect Kroger's decadeslong business model to lower prices for customers by reducing its margins.'

"But Rakeen Mabud, chief economist at the Groundwork Collaborative, noted Wednesday that 'execs all over the economy were saying this stuff on their earning calls back in 2021.'

"'This was not a secret,' Mabud added."

Read more:
https://www.commondreams.org/news/kroger-egg-prices

#CorporatePriceGouging #Inflation #CEOPay #ObsceneProfits #FoodInsecurity #PeopleAndPlanetOverProfits