Albertsons cooking up a strategy for growth

A new project has the possibility of positioning Albertsons for greater growth as the company aims to expand by buying back some of the stores it unloaded last year as a result of a deal with Safeway.



Albertsons has announced it has completed a $4.8 million renovation of the company's Culinary Kitchens & Technical Center in California. The project, which was in development before the Albertsons-Safeway merger was announced, came to fruition this month in a 33,000-square-foot facility in Dublin, Calif., near the company's Pleasanton corporate campus.



"Our company is passionate about running really great stores, and key to that is providing our customers with the products they want, just as Joe Albertson did when he opened his first store 76 years ago," said Shane Sampson, CMO. "As grocers, we love challenging our culinary team to come up with new Own Brands products that keep pace with the changing tastes and preferences of customers in every neighborhood we serve. Our Culinary Kitchens & Technical Center helps make that happen across all of our stores."



The Culinary Kitchens & Technical Center is a state-of-the-art facility that enables the company's stores like Albertsons, Safeway, Jewel-Osco, Vons and Carrs to provide customers with products developed to their tastes. The facility has sophisticated capabilities in culinary development and food technology, with a special focus on fresh selections in our Service Deli, Meat, Seafood, Produce, and Bakery departments. In addition to its staff of 70 culinary specialists, the facility also contains equipment to replicate manufacturing plant, store and home kitchen environments.



Albertsons is bidding on 95 Haggen stores out West. Albertsons was required to sell 146 stores to Haggen last year before the Albertsons-Safeway merger was approved by federal regulators.