Kroger says it marks down day-old bread, donates the rest, and turns scraps into animal feed

Kroger's approach to unsold food offers a closer look at how a major grocery chain is trying to keep edible items out of the trash.

Rather than treating day-old bread, dairy, produce, and other nearly expired products as automatic waste, Chowhound reported the retailer says they move through a three-part system of markdowns, donations, and recycling.

Here's what to know

At Kroger, food nearing its "best by" date is typically discounted and placed in markdown sections first, the outlet noted. If it still does not sell and is safe for people to eat, the company then sends it to food banks and other hunger-relief organizations through its Zero Hunger | Zero Waste program, which began in 2017.

In 2018, Kroger added a nonprofit arm to support that work by creating an attached foundation. In its 2025 Responsible Business Report, the company said the effort has helped provide nearly 4 billion meals and directed about $1.8 billion in food and funding toward hunger relief.

Kroger says food that cannot be donated has another destination besides the trash. Scraps may be composted or used for livestock feed, and the company says that system reaches 97% of its stores, per Chowhound.

Kroger has framed those efforts against a broader national problem. The company acknowledges that roughly one-third of the U.S. food supply is wasted, even as many families are still dealing with food insecurity and high grocery costs.

More background

Kroger's food-waste efforts did not start out with especially strong outside reviews. In a 2018 report highlighted by Chowhound, the company received a C, placing it below Walmart and alongside Albertsons and Ahold Delhaize, the parent company of Food Lion and Giant.

That standing later improved. By 2021, FoodPrint gave Kroger an A, tying it with Walmart and Ahold Delhaize. Costco, Publix, and Trader Joe's ranked lower, apparently not because they lacked programs, but because they did not publish enough verifiable information, per Chowhound.

Companywide policies do not always guarantee identical results at every location. Kroger said the initiative had reached all 2,800 stores by 2019, but the outlet described scattered accounts. In 2025, a Reddit post about boxes of donuts reportedly headed for the trash drew negative media attention. 

Perfectly edible food can help feed people rather than produce methane in landfills, but only if stores have reliable systems for safely sorting, discounting, and donating food.

What's being done?

One practical way for supermarkets to cut waste is to treat unsold food as a sequence of options rather than a single disposal problem. At Kroger, that translates to multiple steps.

That kind of system can also help stretch household budgets. Markdown sections often give shoppers access to bakery items, produce, and refrigerated foods at reduced prices, while community donations can support local food banks facing heavy demand.

Food waste is complicated because stores cannot automatically donate everything. Products have to be handled properly and deemed safe for human consumption. Still, stronger transparency, store-level enforcement, and public reporting can provide demonstrable improvements.

Kroger's progress also points to how much room other chains have to improve. Better donation partnerships, stronger data, and better waste diversion can reduce unnecessary disposal while helping people and cutting pollution.

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