<SEC-DOCUMENT>0001214659-18-003961.txt : 20180523
<SEC-HEADER>0001214659-18-003961.hdr.sgml : 20180523
<ACCEPTANCE-DATETIME>20180522180406
ACCESSION NUMBER:		0001214659-18-003961
CONFORMED SUBMISSION TYPE:	PX14A6G
PUBLIC DOCUMENT COUNT:		2
FILED AS OF DATE:		20180523
DATE AS OF CHANGE:		20180522
EFFECTIVENESS DATE:		20180523

SUBJECT COMPANY:	

	COMPANY DATA:	
		COMPANY CONFORMED NAME:			KROGER CO
		CENTRAL INDEX KEY:			0000056873
		STANDARD INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATION:	RETAIL-GROCERY STORES [5411]
		IRS NUMBER:				310345740
		STATE OF INCORPORATION:			OH
		FISCAL YEAR END:			0203

	FILING VALUES:
		FORM TYPE:		PX14A6G
		SEC ACT:		1934 Act
		SEC FILE NUMBER:	001-00303
		FILM NUMBER:		18853483

	BUSINESS ADDRESS:	
		STREET 1:		1014 VINE ST
		CITY:			CINCINNATI
		STATE:			OH
		ZIP:			45201
		BUSINESS PHONE:		5137624000

FILED BY:		

	COMPANY DATA:	
		COMPANY CONFORMED NAME:			AS YOU SOW
		CENTRAL INDEX KEY:			0001086462
		IRS NUMBER:				000000000

	FILING VALUES:
		FORM TYPE:		PX14A6G

	BUSINESS ADDRESS:	
		STREET 1:		1611 TELEGRAPH AVE.
		STREET 2:		SUITE 1450
		CITY:			OAKLAND
		STATE:			CA
		ZIP:			94612
		BUSINESS PHONE:		510-735-8155

	MAIL ADDRESS:	
		STREET 1:		1611 TELEGRAPH AVE.
		STREET 2:		SUITE 1450
		CITY:			OAKLAND
		STATE:			CA
		ZIP:			94612
</SEC-HEADER>
<DOCUMENT>
<TYPE>PX14A6G
<SEQUENCE>1
<FILENAME>p522181px14a6g.htm
<TEXT>
<html>
<head>
<title></title>
<!--Licensed to: Securex Filings LLC
    Document created using EDGARfilings PROfile 4.4.0.0
    Copyright 1995 - 2018 Broadridge-->
</head>
<body style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif" bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000">
<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: left"><img src="asyousowlogo.jpg"><br>
</div>

<div><br>
</div>

<div style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; FONT-WEIGHT: bold; TEXT-ALIGN: center">PROXY MEMO</div>

<div><br>
</div>

<div style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; TEXT-ALIGN: left">Notice of Exempt Solicitation Pursuant to Rule 14a-103</div>

<div style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; TEXT-ALIGN: left">Name of the Registrant: The Kroger Company</div>

<div style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; TEXT-ALIGN: left">Name of persons relying on exemption:&#160;As You Sow</div>

<div style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; TEXT-ALIGN: left">Address of persons relying on exemption: 1611 Telegraph Ave., Suite 1450, Oakland, CA 94612</div>

<div><br>
</div>

<div style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; TEXT-ALIGN: left">Written materials are submitted pursuant to Rule 14a-6(g)(1) promulgated under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.&#160;Submission is not required of this filer under the terms of the Rule, but is made voluntarily in the interest of public disclosure and consideration of these important issues.</div>

<div><br>
</div>

<div style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; FONT-WEIGHT: bold; TEXT-ALIGN: left">As You Sow calls on Kroger shareholders to vote FOR Item #7 at The Kroger Company Annual Meeting on June 28, 2018<font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">.</font></div>

<div><br>
</div>

<div style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; FONT-STYLE: italic; TEXT-ALIGN: left">For questions, please contact Lila Holzman, As You Sow, lholzman@asyousow.org</div>

<div>&#160;</div>

<div>
<table id="ze5865dc77b5c4e94be3fa4837bccd01a" style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse; WIDTH: 100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
<tr>
<td style="BORDER-TOP: #000000 2px solid; BORDER-RIGHT: #000000 2px solid; VERTICAL-ALIGN: top; BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 2px solid; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; WIDTH: 100%">
<div style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; FONT-WEIGHT: bold; TEXT-ALIGN: center">Shareholder Proposal No. 7 on The Kroger Company 2018 Proxy Statement:</div>

<div style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; FONT-WEIGHT: bold; TEXT-ALIGN: center">
<div style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; FONT-WEIGHT: bold; TEXT-ALIGN: center">Report on Adopting Renewable Energy Targets</div>

<div style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; FONT-WEIGHT: bold; TEXT-ALIGN: center">The Kroger Company Symbol: KR</div>

<div style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; FONT-WEIGHT: bold; TEXT-ALIGN: center">Filed by: As You Sow</div>
</div>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</div>

<div><br>
</div>

<div style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; FONT-WEIGHT: bold; TEXT-ALIGN: center">Kroger Shareholder Proposal</div>

<div><br>
</div>

<div style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; TEXT-ALIGN: left"><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; FONT-WEIGHT: bold">RESOLVED: </font>Shareholders request Kroger produce a report, with board oversight, assessing the climate change risk reduction benefits of adopting quantitative, time-bound, enterprise-wide targets for increasing its renewable energy sourcing. The report should be produced at reasonable cost and exclude proprietary information.</div>

<div><br>
</div>

<div style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; FONT-WEIGHT: bold; TEXT-ALIGN: left">Summary</div>

<div><br>
</div>

<div style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; TEXT-ALIGN: left">The Kroger Company is one of the world&#8217;s largest retailers, with an annual revenue exceeding $115 billion<sup style="vertical-align: text-top; line-height: 1; font-size: smaller">1</sup> and many popular subsidiaries including Ralphs, Harris Teeter, Food 4 Less, Fry&#8217;s, and Roundy&#8217;s. Based on its 2017 CDP Climate Report, Kroger&#8217;s greenhouse gas emissions are larger than the emissions of many entire countries.<sup style="vertical-align: text-top; line-height: 1; font-size: smaller;FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', serif">2</sup> Investors are concerned that Kroger is not adequately addressing its globally significant carbon emissions.</div>

<div>&#160;</div>

<div><br>
<hr style="BORDER-TOP: 0px; HEIGHT: 1px; BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; COLOR: #000000; TEXT-ALIGN: left; MARGIN-LEFT: 0pt; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; WIDTH: 2in; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #000000; MARGIN-RIGHT: auto" align="left" noshade="noshade">
</div>

<div style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; TEXT-ALIGN: left">
<div style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; TEXT-ALIGN: left"><sup style="vertical-align: text-top; line-height: 1; font-size: smaller">1</sup><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">&#160;</font><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; COLOR: #0000ff"><u>https://www.cdp.net/en/responses/10331</u></font><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> C</font><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; FONT-STYLE: italic">DP Climate Change 2017 Information Request &#8211; The Kroger Company; Section 12.1a</font></div>

<div style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; TEXT-ALIGN: left"><sup style="vertical-align: text-top; line-height: 1; font-size: smaller">2</sup><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; COLOR: #0000ff"><u>https://www.cdp.net/en/responses/10331?back_to=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdp.net%2Fen%2Fresponses%3Fpage%3D3188%26per_page%3D20%26queries%255Bname%255D%3D%26sort_by%3Dproject_name%26sort_dir%3Dasc&amp;queries%5Bname%5D</u></font>&#160;<font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; FONT-STYLE: italic">CDP Climate Change 2017 Information Request &#8211; The Kroger Company; Section CC8 &amp; CC9. </font><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; COLOR: #0000ff"><u>http://www.eia.gov/cfapps/ipdbproject/IEDIndex3.cfm?tid=90&amp;pid=44&amp;aid=8</u></font><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">.</font>&#160;<font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; FONT-STYLE: italic">&#8220;International Energy Statistics,&#8221; U.S. EIA, accessed May 26, 2017, Raw data, sorted, based on 2015 emissions, to show all countries below 6.6 million mtCO2e</font></div>
</div>

<div>&#160;</div>

<div id="DSPFPageBreakArea" style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 10pt; CLEAR: both; MARGIN-TOP: 10pt">
<div id="DSPFPageBreak" style="PAGE-BREAK-AFTER: always">
<hr style="BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; HEIGHT: 2px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; COLOR: #000000; CLEAR: both; MARGIN: 4px 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; WIDTH: 100%; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #000000" noshade="noshade">
</div>
</div>

<div>&#160;&#160; </div>

<div><img src="asyousowlogo.jpg"></div>

<div>&#160;&#160; </div>

<div style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; TEXT-ALIGN: left">To mitigate carbon risk, reduce costs, and add long-term value, a growing number of corporations are sourcing their own renewable energy; 131 of those companies have committed to move toward 100% renewable energy sourcing through the RE100 initiative.<sup style="vertical-align: text-top; line-height: 1; font-size: smaller;FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', serif">3</sup> In contrast to its peers, Kroger continues to make little forward progress in renewable energy adoption. This shareholder resolution requests that Kroger evaluate adoption of enterprise-wide, renewable energy targets to reduce its carbon risk.</div>

<div><br>
</div>

<div><br>
</div>

<div style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; FONT-WEIGHT: bold; TEXT-ALIGN: left">Rationale for a &#8220;YES&#8221; vote</div>

<div><br>
</div>

<div style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; FONT-WEIGHT: bold; TEXT-ALIGN: left">Kroger fails to disclose information allowing shareholders to assess how, or whether, the Company is adequately addressing carbon risk or developing a renewable energy portfolio into the future.</div>

<div><br>
</div>

<div style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; TEXT-ALIGN: left">Kroger does not currently report any climate-related targets beyond 2020. The company&#8217;s target-setting as found in CDP reports remains confusing and unclear, providing data with moving baselines and targets that, while appearing to be significant, actually encompass relatively small improvements. While <font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; FONT-STYLE: italic">any</font> reduction effort by the Company is laudable, the Company&#8217;s &#8220;40%&#8221; energy reduction goal for 2020 (announced in 2016) relies on a now <font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; FONT-STYLE: italic">18 year old baseline</font>. Therefore, this goal as announced will result in a reduction of the Company&#8217;s energy use by <font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; FONT-STYLE: italic">3%</font>, <font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"><u>in total</u></font>, between 2016 and 2020, an anemic 0.75% a year.<sup style="vertical-align: text-top; line-height: 1; font-size: smaller;FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', serif">4</sup> Furthermore, in recent years, the company has reported increasing greenhouse gas emission, putting into question if the company will even reach its minimal early targets between now and 2020.</div>

<div><br>
</div>

<div style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; TEXT-ALIGN: left">Similarly, Kroger&#8217;s 2020 goal of improving transportation fuel efficiency by 20% is little different from business-as-usual given current fuel economy standards. Kroger&#8217;s improvement goal tracks federal emissions requirements that require a 20% increase in fuel efficiency of heavy vehicles by 2020.<sup style="vertical-align: text-top; line-height: 1; font-size: smaller;FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', serif">5</sup> Kroger&#8217;s fuel efficiency goal appears to simply track the Company&#8217;s vehicle replacement schedule.</div>

<div><br>
</div>

<div style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; TEXT-ALIGN: left">Finally, the company&#8217;s reporting on renewable energy describes individual, sporadic renewable energy projects it has implemented, but does not provide a cohesive, enterprise-wide renewable energy adoption program or goal. Kroger also notes its use of renewable energy credits (RECs), landfill sourced LNG, and its single biogas digester system. The carbon offsets of these projects, while important, are insignificant against the billions of pounds of carbon resulting from Kroger&#8217;s massive energy consumption.</div>

<div><br>
 &#160;</div>

<div>
<hr style="BORDER-TOP: 0px; HEIGHT: 1px; BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; COLOR: #000000; TEXT-ALIGN: left; MARGIN-LEFT: 0pt; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; WIDTH: 2in; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #000000; MARGIN-RIGHT: auto" align="left" noshade="noshade">
</div>

<div style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; TEXT-ALIGN: left"><sup style="vertical-align: text-top; line-height: 1; font-size: smaller">3</sup><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">&#160;</font><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; COLOR: #0000ff"><u>http://there100.org/companies</u></font></div>

<div style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; TEXT-ALIGN: left"><sup style="vertical-align: text-top; line-height: 1; font-size: smaller">4</sup><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">&#160;</font><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; COLOR: #0000ff"><u>https://www.cdp.net/en/responses/10331</u></font><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> C</font><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; FONT-STYLE: italic">DP Climate Change 2017 Information Request &#8211; The Kroger Company </font><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">, Section 3.1e, |</font><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; COLOR: #000000; FONT-STYLE: italic">&#160;</font><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; FONT-STYLE: italic">Kroger announced it would reduce 40% of 4.9 million MWh that was used in year 2000 for a total reduction of 1.96 million MWh by 2020. Of which, Kroger had already completed 87.5% of this goal or 1.7 million MWh, leaving only 243,766 MWh to cut between 2016 and 2020. In 2016, Kroger used 7,734,010 MWh; therefore, Kroger planned to reduce its energy consumption by 243,765.6 / </font><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; COLOR: #000000; FONT-STYLE: italic">7,734,010 = 0.032, or </font><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; COLOR: #000000; FONT-STYLE: italic"><u>3.2%</u></font><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; COLOR: #000000; FONT-STYLE: italic">.</font></div>

<div style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; TEXT-ALIGN: left"><sup style="vertical-align: text-top; line-height: 1; font-size: smaller">5</sup><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">&#160;</font><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; COLOR: #0000ff"><u>https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2012/10/15/2012-21972/2017-and-later-model-year-light-duty-vehicle-greenhouse-gas-emissions-and-corporate-average-fuel</u></font><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">. </font><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; FONT-STYLE: italic">2017 and Later Model Year Light-Duty Vehicle Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standards</font><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">, (EPA, 2012), 40 CFR 85, 86, 600; </font><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; COLOR: #0000ff"><u>https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.dot.gov/files/by-the-numbers.pdf</u></font><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">. &#8220;EPA and NHTSA Propose Greenhouse Gas and Fuel Efficiency Standards for Medium- and Heavy-Duty Trucks: By the Numbers,&#8221; EPA-420-F-15-903, 2015 | </font><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; FONT-STYLE: italic">CAFE Phase 1 regulations require improvements of about 16% by 2018, based on a 2010 baseline; Phase 2 require a 27% improvement from Phase 1 by 2027. Therefore, a 39% increase must occur between 2010 and 2027, or roughly 2.3% per year, which makes 16% + 2.3%*(2) = </font><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; FONT-STYLE: italic"><u>20.6% by 2020</u></font></div>

<div>&#160;</div>

<div id="DSPFPageBreakArea" style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 10pt; CLEAR: both; MARGIN-TOP: 10pt">
<div id="DSPFPageBreak" style="PAGE-BREAK-AFTER: always">
<hr style="BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; HEIGHT: 2px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; COLOR: #000000; CLEAR: both; MARGIN: 4px 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; WIDTH: 100%; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #000000" noshade="noshade">
</div>
</div>

<div>&#160;&#160; </div>

<div><img src="asyousowlogo.jpg"></div>

<div>&#160;&#160;&#160; </div>

<div style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; TEXT-ALIGN: left">The reporting requested by this proposal, a report considering the feasibility of Kroger adopting a renewable energy target, is an important first step in assuring investors that our company is working to effectively remedy its climate risk.</div>

<div><br>
</div>

<div style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; FONT-WEIGHT: bold; TEXT-ALIGN: left">Climate change poses risks to Kroger that remain insufficiently addressed; increasing renewable energy adoption will reduce those risks and benefit the company. </div>

<div><br>
</div>

<div style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; TEXT-ALIGN: left">Unlike many companies today, Kroger&#8217;s 2017 annual report does not mention climate change, climate risk, or consider the risks related to its energy sourcing. In contrast, competitive retailers like Walmart,<sup style="vertical-align: text-top; line-height: 1; font-size: smaller;FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', serif">6</sup> Target,<sup style="vertical-align: text-top; line-height: 1; font-size: smaller;FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', serif">7</sup> and Costco<sup style="vertical-align: text-top; line-height: 1; font-size: smaller;FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', serif">8</sup> have recognized the material costs and risks of climate change to their businesses. As an example, Target has responded by setting a greenhouse gas emissions reduction goal through the Science Based Targets Initiative.<sup style="vertical-align: text-top; line-height: 1; font-size: smaller;FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', serif">9</sup></div>

<div><br>
</div>

<div style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; TEXT-ALIGN: left">Proactively managing carbon risk generally yields improved financial performance according to research from CDP &#8212; when corporations track, manage, and reduce carbon impacts, various financial indicators tend to improve, including improved return on equity, stronger dividends, lower earnings volatility, reduced emissions, and reduced regulatory risk.<sup style="vertical-align: text-top; line-height: 1; font-size: smaller;FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', serif">10</sup> The same report identifies business benefits of carbon reduction through renewable power adoption, including power price certainty, responsiveness to customer demand for low carbon solutions, reduced overhead, and reduced regulatory uncertainty from climate change regulations likely to impact operations and/or future fossil fuel energy costs.</div>

<div><br>
</div>

<div style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; TEXT-ALIGN: left">It comes as no surprise that major brands including Whole Foods, GM, Coca-Cola, Walmart, Nestle, Nike, Johnson &amp; Johnson, and Starbucks have made commitments toward 100% Renewable Energy.<sup style="vertical-align: text-top; line-height: 1; font-size: smaller;FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', serif">11</sup> The Executive Chairman of Google, Eric Schmidt, explained: &#8220;Much of corporate America is buying renewable energy [...] not just to be sustainable, but because it makes business sense, helping companies diversify their power supply, hedge against fuel risks, and support innovation in an increasingly cost-competitive way.&#8221;<sup style="vertical-align: text-top; line-height: 1; font-size: smaller;FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', serif">12</sup></div>

<div><br>
</div>

<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: left"><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Kroger, which generates large carbon emissions, significantly trails its peers on reducing climate impacts and renewable energy adoption.<font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"><br>
</font></font><br>
</div>

<div style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; TEXT-ALIGN: left">Although Kroger has historically made commendable energy efficiency improvements toward meeting a 40% energy consumption reduction goal by 2020 off a 2000 baseline, it nonetheless trails its peers on overall greenhouse gas emission reductions and renewable energy uptake.</div>

<div>&#160;</div>

<div>&#160;</div>

<div>
<hr style="BORDER-TOP: 0px; HEIGHT: 1px; BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; COLOR: #000000; TEXT-ALIGN: left; MARGIN-LEFT: 0pt; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; WIDTH: 2in; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #000000; MARGIN-RIGHT: auto" align="left" noshade="noshade">
</div>

<div style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; TEXT-ALIGN: left"><sup style="vertical-align: text-top; line-height: 1; font-size: smaller">6</sup><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">&#160;</font><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; COLOR: #0000ff"><u>http://blog.walmart.com/sustainability/20170216/how-were-staying-on-track-to-fight-climate-change</u></font><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; COLOR: #0000ff"><u>&#160;</u></font><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; COLOR: #0000ff; FONT-STYLE: italic"><u>Fred Bedore, &#8220;How We&#8217;re Staying On Track to Fight Climate Change,&#8221; Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., February 16, 2017,</u></font></div>

<div style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; TEXT-ALIGN: left"><sup style="vertical-align: text-top; line-height: 1; font-size: smaller;FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', serif">7</sup><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">&#160;</font><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; COLOR: #0000ff"><u>https://corporate.target.com/_media/TargetCorp/csr/pdf/ProgrammeResponse_Climate-Change-2017.pdf</u></font><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">&#160;</font><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; FONT-STYLE: italic">Climate Change 2017 Information Request Target Corporation</font><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">, section 2.2a,</font></div>

<div style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; TEXT-ALIGN: left"><sup style="vertical-align: text-top; line-height: 1; font-size: smaller">8</sup><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">&#160;</font><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; COLOR: #0000ff"><u>http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=83830&amp;p=irol-reportsannual</u></font><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">&#160;</font><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; FONT-STYLE: italic">FY 2017 Annual Report</font><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">, Costco Wholesale Corporation, 2017, p.15,</font></div>

<div style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; TEXT-ALIGN: left"><sup style="vertical-align: text-top; line-height: 1; font-size: smaller">9</sup><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">&#160;</font><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; COLOR: #0000ff"><u>https://corporate.target.com/corporate-responsibility/planet/climate</u></font></div>

<div style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; TEXT-ALIGN: left"><sup style="vertical-align: text-top; line-height: 1; font-size: smaller">10</sup><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">&#160;</font><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; COLOR: #0000ff"><u>https://www.starwoodhotels.com/Media/PDF/Corporate/CDP-SP500-climate-report-2014.pdf</u></font><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">&#160;</font><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; FONT-STYLE: italic">Climate action and profitability: CDP S&amp;P 500 Climate Change Report 2014</font><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">, (CDP, 2014)</font></div>

<div style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; TEXT-ALIGN: left"><sup style="vertical-align: text-top; line-height: 1; font-size: smaller">11</sup><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">&#160;</font><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; COLOR: #0000ff"><u>http://there100.org/companies</u></font></div>

<div style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; TEXT-ALIGN: left"><sup style="vertical-align: text-top; line-height: 1; font-size: smaller">12</sup><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">&#160;</font><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; COLOR: #0000ff"><u>http://googlegreenblog.blogspot.com/2014/09/googles-commitment-to-sustainability.html</u></font><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; COLOR: #0000ff"><u> &#8220;Google's commitment to sustainability,&#8221; Google Green Blog, Sept 24, 2014</u></font></div>

<div>&#160;</div>

<div id="DSPFPageBreakArea" style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 10pt; CLEAR: both; MARGIN-TOP: 10pt">
<div id="DSPFPageBreak" style="PAGE-BREAK-AFTER: always">
<hr style="BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; HEIGHT: 2px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; COLOR: #000000; CLEAR: both; MARGIN: 4px 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; WIDTH: 100%; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #000000" noshade="noshade">
</div>
</div>

<div>&#160;&#160; </div>

<div><img src="asyousowlogo.jpg"></div>

<div>&#160;&#160; </div>

<div style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; TEXT-ALIGN: left">In 2016, Kroger&#8217;s competitor Walmart was able to <font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; FONT-STYLE: italic">decrease</font> its Scope 2 emissions by increasing investments in renewables and efficiency<font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"><u>,</u></font>&#160;<font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; FONT-STYLE: italic"><u>despite growing its retail square footage by 1.3%</u></font><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">.</font><sup style="vertical-align: text-top; line-height: 1; font-size: smaller;FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', serif">13</sup> Kroger fares comparably poorly. Its <font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; FONT-STYLE: italic">Scope 2 emissions increased from 2016 to 2017</font> due to reasons including increased sales and acquisitions as well as the temperature increasing in the areas where Kroger stores are located.<sup style="vertical-align: text-top; line-height: 1; font-size: smaller;FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', serif">14</sup></div>

<div><br>
</div>

<div style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; TEXT-ALIGN: left">With regard to renewable energy, Kroger falls further behind its peers. For instance, Walmart has made a commitment to source 100% of its power from renewables, joining over 100 other companies including Whole Foods Market, Unilever, Coca-Cola, and Kellogg&#8217;s.<sup style="vertical-align: text-top; line-height: 1; font-size: smaller;FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', serif">15</sup> Kroger has made no such commitment and, as of spring 2017, has only introduced solar power at seven of its thousands of stores, plants, and distribution centers, and installed just two wind turbines.<sup style="vertical-align: text-top; line-height: 1; font-size: smaller;FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', serif">16</sup> This is especially minimal compared to Target which, by 2016, had installed solar on 350 of its stores.<sup style="vertical-align: text-top; line-height: 1; font-size: smaller;FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', serif">17</sup></div>

<div><br>
</div>

<div style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; TEXT-ALIGN: left">Corporate procurement of renewable energy is accelerating quickly as the cost of renewable energy has dropped significantly. Nationally, according to EIA data, the average cost of electricity from the grid was $0.1068/kWh for commercial customers in 2017, up from $0.1043 in 2016. Renewable energy costs, in contrast, are lower and on a downward trajectory. According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance's 2018 <font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; FONT-STYLE: italic">Sustainable Energy in America Factbook</font> "the most competitive power purchase agreements (PPAs) came in at just over $20/MWh for solar [$0.02/kWh], while wind PPAs executed in the U.S. wind belt averaged an estimated $17/MWh in 2017 [$0.017/kWh]."<sup style="vertical-align: text-top; line-height: 1; font-size: smaller;FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', serif">18</sup></div>

<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: left"><br>
</div>

<div style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; TEXT-ALIGN: left">While market barriers to renewable energy procurement remain an issue for some consumers, large corporate buyers who have both significant market power and in-house procurement expertise are well positioned to take advantage of the business opportunities that this new, low-cost renewable energy presents. According to the Ceres study <font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; FONT-STYLE: italic">Turning Point,</font> 64% of major American companies have set a goal of reducing their greenhouse gas emissions, and 32% have set a specific goal for their procurement of renewable energy.<sup style="vertical-align: text-top; line-height: 1; font-size: smaller;FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', serif">19</sup> Globally, 131 companies have joined the RE100 initiative and committed to procuring 100% renewable energy to power their operations.<sup style="vertical-align: text-top; line-height: 1; font-size: smaller;FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', serif">20</sup></div>

<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: left"><br>
</div>

<div style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; TEXT-ALIGN: left">According to the Business Renewables Center (BRC)'s <font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; FONT-STYLE: italic">Corporate Deal Tracker</font>, U.S. businesses signed contracts for over 2.78 GW of renewable energy in 2017, progress that shows no sign of slowing. As of mid-April 2018 (less than a third of the way through the year), corporate buyers have already signed contracts for over 2.04 GM of clean energy, on track to eclipse the single year record of 3.12 GM in 2015.<sup style="vertical-align: text-top; line-height: 1; font-size: smaller;FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', serif">21</sup></div>

<div>&#160;</div>

<div>&#160;</div>

<div>
<hr style="BORDER-TOP: 0px; HEIGHT: 1px; BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; COLOR: #000000; TEXT-ALIGN: left; MARGIN-LEFT: 0pt; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; WIDTH: 2in; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #000000; MARGIN-RIGHT: auto" align="left" noshade="noshade">
</div>

<div style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; TEXT-ALIGN: left"><sup style="vertical-align: text-top; line-height: 1; font-size: smaller">13</sup><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">&#160;</font><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; COLOR: #0000ff"><u>https://www.cdp.net/en/responses?utf8=%E2%9C%93&amp;queries%5Bname%5D=walmart</u></font><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> C</font><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; FONT-STYLE: italic">DP Climate Change 2017 Information Request &#8211; Walmart, </font><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">Section 3.1e</font></div>

<div style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; TEXT-ALIGN: left"><sup style="vertical-align: text-top; line-height: 1; font-size: smaller;FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', serif">14</sup><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">&#160;</font><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; COLOR: #0000ff"><u>https://www.cdp.net/en/responses/10331</u></font><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> C</font><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; FONT-STYLE: italic">DP Climate Change 2017 Information Request &#8211; The Kroger Company,</font></div>

<div style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; TEXT-ALIGN: left"><sup style="vertical-align: text-top; line-height: 1; font-size: smaller">15</sup><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">&#160;</font><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; COLOR: #0000ff"><u>http://there100.org/companies</u></font></div>

<div style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; TEXT-ALIGN: left"><sup style="vertical-align: text-top; line-height: 1; font-size: smaller">16</sup><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">&#160;</font><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; COLOR: #0000ff"><u>http://sustainability.kroger.com/pdfs/kroger-2017-csr.pdf</u></font><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">&#160;</font><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; FONT-STYLE: italic">2017 Sustainability Report: Improving Today to Protect Tomorrow</font><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">, Kroger Corporation, 2017, p.58.</font></div>

<div style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; TEXT-ALIGN: left"><sup style="vertical-align: text-top; line-height: 1; font-size: smaller">17</sup><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">&#160;</font><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; COLOR: #0000ff"><u>https://corporate.target.com/_media/TargetCorp/csr/pdf/2016-Corporate-Social-Responsibility-Report.pdf</u></font></div>

<div style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; TEXT-ALIGN: left"><sup style="vertical-align: text-top; line-height: 1; font-size: smaller">18</sup><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">&#160;</font><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; COLOR: #0000ff"><u>https://data.bloomberglp.com/bnef/sites/14/2018/02/Sustainable-Energy-in-America-2018-Factbook.pdf</u></font></div>

<div style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; TEXT-ALIGN: left"><sup style="vertical-align: text-top; line-height: 1; font-size: smaller">19</sup><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">&#160;</font><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; COLOR: #0000ff"><u>https://www.ceres.org/resources/roadmap-for-sustainability</u></font></div>

<div style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; TEXT-ALIGN: left"><sup style="vertical-align: text-top; line-height: 1; font-size: smaller;FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', serif">20</sup><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">&#160;</font><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; COLOR: #0000ff"><u>http://there100.org/companies</u></font></div>

<div style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; TEXT-ALIGN: left"><sup style="vertical-align: text-top; line-height: 1; font-size: smaller">21</sup><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">&#160;</font><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; COLOR: #0000ff"><u>http://businessrenewables.org/corporate-transactions/</u></font></div>

<div>&#160;</div>

<div id="DSPFPageBreakArea" style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 10pt; CLEAR: both; MARGIN-TOP: 10pt">
<div id="DSPFPageBreak" style="PAGE-BREAK-AFTER: always">
<hr style="BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; HEIGHT: 2px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; COLOR: #000000; CLEAR: both; MARGIN: 4px 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; WIDTH: 100%; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #000000" noshade="noshade">
</div>
</div>

<div>&#160;&#160; </div>

<div><img src="asyousowlogo.jpg"></div>

<div>&#160;&#160; </div>

<div style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; TEXT-ALIGN: left">These leading companies include some of Kroger's main competitors and peers. Walmart, for example, recently announced several investments the company is making to meet and even surpass its interim goal of supplying 50% of its operations with renewable energy by 2025. These include on-site solar projects, large-scale wind farms, and other partnerships.<sup style="vertical-align: text-top; line-height: 1; font-size: smaller;FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', serif">22</sup></div>

<div><br>
</div>

<div style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; TEXT-ALIGN: left">In addition to competitors, many of the largest food companies that supply Kroger&#8217;s stores have also committed to 100% renewable energy. ABInBev, Califa Farms, Danone, Diageo, Kellogg's, Mars, Nestl&#233;, Organic Valley, P&amp;G, Starbucks, and Unilever are all RE100 signatories. Many other major suppliers have set more modest renewable energy targets and more still are in the process of setting targets.<sup style="vertical-align: text-top; line-height: 1; font-size: smaller;FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', serif">23</sup></div>

<div><br>
</div>

<div style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; TEXT-ALIGN: left">By failing to conduct the study requested by shareholders to determine the feasibility of setting a renewable energy target, Kroger&#8217;s management is missing a potentially major business opportunity. This refusal also puts the company at risk of falling behind competitors that are able to procure renewable energy at lower costs and exposes the company to reputational and business risks posed by climate change.</div>

<div><br>
</div>

<div style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; FONT-WEIGHT: bold; TEXT-ALIGN: left">Response to the 2018 Board of Director&#8217;s Statement of Opposition</div>

<div><br>
</div>

<div style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; TEXT-ALIGN: left">While Kroger claims to be committed to sustainability, our company has not disclosed a clear, comprehensive, forward-looking strategy to address climate risks or increase renewable energy beyond a commitment to reduce energy use by 0.75% per year for the next two years and increase fuel economy at rates equivalent to current federal requirements. Kroger&#8217;s existing commitments do not sufficiently indicate how the company will mitigate the potential for being left behind peers who are proactively setting renewable energy targets and taking responsibility for the critical greenhouse gas emission reductions required to limit global temperature increase to well below 2 degrees Celsius&#8212;the internationally recognized goal intended to avoid the most catastrophic impacts of climate change.</div>

<div><br>
</div>

<div style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; FONT-WEIGHT: bold; TEXT-ALIGN: left">Conclusion</div>

<div><br>
</div>

<div style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; TEXT-ALIGN: left">The requested report will provide an important first step in analyzing the value of adopting greater renewable energy resources to reduce climate risk and add to the company&#8217;s resiliency and competitiveness. Kroger&#8217;s weak actions to reduce the Company&#8217;s total greenhouse gas emissions, and its absolute increases in GHG emissions, suggests a failure to recognize the serious risks this underperformance poses to its reputation, brand, regulatory compliance costs, supply chain success, and ongoing competitiveness with more efficient, environmentally conscious peers. With supply chains that stretch across the globe, Kroger&#8217;s operations are extremely vulnerable to the risks of climate change. The Company has made little headway since the last few carbon-related proposals on its proxy, which garnered strong support from shareholders. <font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Proponents request a &#8220;YES&#8221; vote on this proposal.</font></div>

<div><br>
</div>

<div>&#160;</div>

<div>
<hr style="BORDER-TOP: 0px; HEIGHT: 1px; BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; COLOR: #000000; TEXT-ALIGN: left; MARGIN-LEFT: 0pt; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; WIDTH: 2in; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #000000; MARGIN-RIGHT: auto" align="left" noshade="noshade">
</div>

<div style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; TEXT-ALIGN: left"><sup style="vertical-align: text-top; line-height: 1; font-size: smaller;FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', serif">22</sup><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">&#160;</font><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; COLOR: #0000ff"><u>https://news.walmart.com/2018/04/18/walmart-announces-20-mmt-of-supplier-emission-reductions-through-project-gigaton-unveils-plans-for-expanding-electric-vehicle-charging-stations-and-doubling-us-wind-and-solar-energy-use</u></font></div>

<div style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; TEXT-ALIGN: left"><sup style="vertical-align: text-top; line-height: 1; font-size: smaller">23</sup><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">&#160;</font><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; COLOR: #0000ff"><u>https://www.ceres.org/resources/roadmap-for-sustainability</u></font></div>

<div>&#160;</div>

<div>&#160;</div>

<div>&#160;</div>

<div>
<hr style="BORDER-TOP: medium none; HEIGHT: 2px; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; COLOR: #000000; TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN-LEFT: auto; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #000000; MARGIN-RIGHT: auto" align="center" noshade="noshade">
</div>

<div><br>
</div>
</body>
</html>

</TEXT>
</DOCUMENT>
<DOCUMENT>
<TYPE>GRAPHIC
<SEQUENCE>2
<FILENAME>asyousowlogo.jpg
<TEXT>
begin 644 asyousowlogo.jpg
M_]C_X  02D9)1@ ! 0$ 8 !@  #_X0!F17AI9@  34T *@    @ ! $:  4
M   !    /@$;  4    !    1@$H  ,    !  (   $Q  (    0    3@
M      !@     0   &     !<&%I;G0N;F5T(#0N,"XU /_; $,  @$! @$!
M @(" @(" @(#!0,# P,#!@0$ P4'!@<'!P8'!P@)"PD(" H(!P<*#0H*"PP,
M# P'"0X/#0P."PP,#/_; $,! @(" P,#!@,#!@P(!P@,# P,# P,# P,# P,
M# P,# P,# P,# P,# P,# P,# P,# P,# P,# P,# P,# P,#/_  !$( "0
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MN;K"P\3%QL?(R<K2T]35UM?8V=KBX^3EYN?HZ>KR\_3U]O?X^?K_V@ , P$
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M$6_VDJ9BF>"VT 9/MT]^M5*XGBZZ=O:/[V<+Q>(3LJC^]GS+\1?CS>_LX?\
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/ **** "BBB@ HHHH __9

end
</TEXT>
</DOCUMENT>
</SEC-DOCUMENT>
