Startup CPG Newswire:
Eat Happy Kitchen Doubles National Retail Footprint: Nearly 500 Kroger-Owned Stores to Carry the Woman-Owned Brand’s All-Natural Line of Pasta Sauces

PRESS RELEASE — NEWS PROVIDED BY Anna Vocino for Eat Happy Kitchen

SANTA YNEZ, CA (JUNE 2025) — Eat Happy Kitchen, an award-winning woman-owned food company known for its clean, better-for-you pasta sauces, is now appearing on the shelves of 479 Kroger Family stores across the country. This milestone marks a significant step in the company’s mission to bring premium, no-sugar-added sauces to shoppers seeking alternatives to conventional options. The addition more than doubles Eat Happy Kitchen’s national retail footprint and makes it one of the fastest-scaling emerging food brands in the country.

The company’s relationship with Kroger began unexpectedly, when founder and CEO Anna Vocino participated in a 30-second “pitch slam” at Expo West 2024, hosted by StartupCPG. That brief introduction led to the brand’s addition to the shelves of Kroger-owned Fred Meyer, Ralphs, King Soopers, QFC, Smith’s, and Fry’s.

“Our pasta sauces offer something very different from the usual suspects on the shelf,” said Vocino. “From no seed oils to no added sugars, our clean ingredient list and bold flavors give shoppers a fun, better-for-you choice that can freshen up any pasta night. Kroger’s willingness to make room for an emerging, woman-owned brand like ours shows their commitment to bringing innovation and quality to their customers, and it advances our mission to become the premium pantry product company of the future.”

Shoppers will find four of Eat Happy Kitchen’s standout sauces in the conventional pasta sauce aisle:
Eat Happy Kitchen Marinara
Eat Happy Kitchen Puttanesca, the Shelfie Awards best pasta sauce of 2024
Eat Happy Kitchen Pink Crema
Eat Happy Kitchen Arrabbiata Spicy Marinara

The expansion was made possible through the support of distribution partner, KeHE.

“The entire KeHE team has been instrumental in helping us prepare for this expansion into the footprint of the largest supermarket operator in the United States,” Vocino added. “Their partnership has been indispensable to our growth and we’re grateful for their role in making this happen.”

With the premium pasta sauce category growing rapidly, Eat Happy Kitchen’s clean-label recipes stand out in a space long dominated by mass-produced alternatives. The company’s entry onto the shelves of one of the most mainstream supermarket brands reflects a larger shift in consumer demand for healthier, high-quality pantry staples at conventional grocery stores.

This also marks a significant moment for representation in the food space. Eat Happy Kitchen is among the few women-owned pasta sauce brands on the shelves at a growing number of the country’s largest retailers.

About Eat Happy Kitchen

Eat Happy Kitchen is a natural food manufacturing company founded by Anna Vocino, author of the bestselling Eat Happy series of cookbooks. Founded with the primary mission of making foods with the highest quality ingredients, always gluten free, and with no sugar added, the company’s products currently include a line of five SKUs of pasta sauces, four spice blends, and three upcoming cheese bite snacks. More information about Eat Happy Kitchen can be found at www.eathappykitchen.com.

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