CHICAGO — Home Chef, the fast-growing meal kit subscription and retail business, today announced leadership promotions and new roles intended to strengthen plans for growth and accelerate innovation. Erik Jensen, the company’s Chief Product Officer, will be promoted to President where he will be reporting directly to Pat Vihtelic, the company’s Founder and Chief Executive Officer. Pat will continue as CEO, supporting Erik in his new role while focusing on long-term strategy to align with Kroger’s ambitious e-commerce growth goals. Latasha Kempadoo joins the organization as Chief People Officer, and David McCoy will be elevated to the role of Vice President of Finance.
Founded in 2013 by Pat Vihtelic, Home Chef was acquired by Kroger, America’s largest grocery retailer in 2018. Since then, Home Chef has expanded its footprint into more than 2,100 Kroger stores nationwide and has experienced rapid growth with expansion into new categories over the past year. Home Chef grew its brand sales by 118% in 2020 as its e-commerce business surged as a result of customers shifting increasingly toward online food orders.
“I have been extremely proud of our team’s ability to not only be there for our customers throughout the pandemic, but also innovate throughout it,” said Vihtelic. “These team changes strengthen our leadership team and position us well for continued innovation, ensuring we are able to continue scaling the Home Chef brand across channels.”
“Home Chef is a growing and thriving business for Kroger, and we believe having strong talent at the helm will enable us to continue that success and deliver even more value to our customers,” said Dan De La Rosa, Kroger’s group Vice President of Fresh Merchandising. “As customers look for food inspiration, we are developing innovative products and experiences to meet their needs, including fresh meal solutions like Home Chef, which experienced record sales last year.”
Jensen has been with Home Chef for nearly six years and continually expanded his leadership responsibilities. He assumed the role of Chief Product Officer in 2017 and has played a pivotal role in the growth of the retail business in Kroger stores.
Kempadoo recently joined Home Chef with over 20 years of HR experience, most recently at XPO Logistics. She has worked at leading consumer companies including Henkel Corporation (acquirer of Sun Products Corporation), Colgate-Palmolive and Pepsico throughout her career and has held leadership roles at high growth and food manufacturing businesses.
McCoy joined Home Chef from Crate & Barrel in 2018 and was promoted to Senior Director of Finance in 2020. Throughout his tenure, he has helped support critical initiatives across the organization.
“I look forward to partnering closely with Pat to ensure Home Chef continues on its current high-growth trajectory,” said Jensen. “We have an unparalleled executive team and exceptional Home Chef associates, and I’m thrilled to be able to lead the team over this next phase.”
About Home Chef:
Home Chef is one of the largest meal kit delivery services in the U.S., with over 3.5 million meals delivered each month. Founded in 2013, Home Chef offers fresh, pre-portioned ingredients and easy to follow recipes delivered weekly and is designed for anyone to be able to cook and everyone to enjoy. The Chicago-based company delivers nationwide. For two years running, Home Chef has been rated #1 in customer satisfaction among leading meal kit companies, according to Market Force Information U.S. Grocery Benchmark Study. Home Chef is a subsidiary of The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR). Find out more and get cooking at www.homechef.com. Follow us on Twitter, Instagramand Facebookfor updates and inspiration.
