Largest US Grocery Chains: Sales, Stores & Supplier Guide

Which are the largest grocery chains in the US?

Walmart is the largest US grocery retailer. Kroger is the largest traditional supermarket operator. The distinction matters: a supercenter, a membership warehouse and a conventional supermarket sell different mixes of food, fuel, pharmacy and general merchandise.

Walmart U.S. reported $285.5 billion in its grocery category for the year ended January 31, 2026. Kroger reported $147.6 billion in total company sales for its fiscal 2025, also ended January 31, 2026. Those figures show scale, but they are different measures. Walmart FY2026 filing; Kroger FY2025 filing.

This guide compares ten major retail businesses and explains how an F&B supplier can use their formats and footprints to build a shortlist. Research checked September 9, 2026. Figures retain their original reporting periods; store counts are dated snapshots.

Ten major US grocery retailers: sales, stores and scope

This is a comparison, not a like-for-like grocery-sales ranking. Rows are grouped by retail format. Where a business does not provide a comparable US grocery figure, the table says so. Sam’s Club appears within Walmart’s group, and Amazon’s total corporate revenue is not assigned to Whole Foods Market.

How to compare retailer size without misleading rankings

For a defensible ranking, use one metric, one geography and one time period. A US food-and-beverage-sales ranking would need that same definition for every retailer. Public reporting does not supply that comparison uniformly, especially for privately held grocers. This guide therefore reports the measure each source actually provides.

• Grocery sales are not corporate revenue. A pharmacy group’s insurance, prescription and healthcare revenue cannot establish its size as a grocer. CVS and Walgreens are excluded from the ten-retailer comparison for that reason.
• Food categories differ. Walmart’s grocery category includes consumables such as household and pet supplies. Target reports food and beverage separately. Neither is a standardized market-share dataset.
• Geography matters. Costco’s worldwide net sales and H-E-B’s Texas/Mexico footprint cannot be described as U.S.-only figures.
• Dates matter. Fiscal years end on different days; Albertsons’ FY2025 has 53 weeks. The table is not a normalized growth comparison.
• Ownership matters. Store banners within a parent group do not create additional independent parent companies. Do not add banner sales to parent sales.

Choose a retail format before choosing a chain

Walmart and Sam’s Club

Walmart and Sam’s Club are distinct routes within the same parent. Sam’s Club U.S. separately reported $64.7bn in its grocery category in FY2026. A club-ready multipack and a supermarket shelf pack can have different costs, handling requirements and selling prices. Decide which proposal you can supply consistently before approaching the buyer. Walmart reporting scope.

Costco

The membership-warehouse model favors a clearly demonstrated value proposition. Build the commercial case around units per case, pallet configuration, landed cost and available capacity. A large warehouse network does not imply a large number of available assortment slots. Costco describes its limited-selection model in its annual report.

Kroger

Use Kroger’s scale as a starting point, then identify the division and shopper you want to serve. A proposal should explain where the product belongs in the category, how it will reach the stores and what evidence supports repeat purchase. Start with a manageable regional plan if national replenishment is not yet credible.

Albertsons Companies

Albertsons operates banners including Safeway, Vons, Jewel-Osco and ACME. Treat the banner and market as practical buying context. For a regional test, specify the intended geography, expected retail price and a distribution plan that can support the launch. Company footprint and banners.

Publix

Publix’s regional concentration can make a Southeast launch more relevant than a nationwide sales story. Check where the intended customer lives, whether the product can retain its required shelf life through distribution, and how trial will convert into repeat sales. Publix’s state-by-state footprint is a useful starting point.

Ahold Delhaize USA

The group’s U.S. business consists of local supermarket brands, including Stop & Shop. Its 2025 report emphasizes an East Coast footprint, own-brand development and online grocery. Define the brand and geography you are targeting before estimating the addressable store base.

ALDI

ALDI’s 2026 expansion announcement creates a useful planning signal, but planned stores should not be counted as open stores. For a supplier, the first question is whether the product economics fit a value-led assortment. Distinguish a branded-product pitch from a private-label manufacturing offer.

H-E-B

H-E-B’s May 2026 supply-chain investment announcement describes a business rooted in Texas with operations in Mexico. A Texas-specific consumer case is more useful than treating its combined store total as nationwide U.S. distribution.

Target

Target is a significant food retailer inside a broader general-merchandise business. Its food-and-beverage category disclosure is more relevant than total corporate sales. Confirm the intended stores’ grocery assortment and the role your item would play in shoppers’ regular trips.

Whole Foods Market

Whole Foods publishes a concrete entry route: register for its supplier portal and complete the potential supplier form. Products must meet its quality standards, and submission does not guarantee a response. Review the official supplier requirements before investing in a pitch.

Regional chains and other formats still deserve a shortlist

These ten businesses are not the full market. Regional and specialty operators such as Wegmans, Sprouts, Meijer, WinCo and Trader Joe’s may be worth researching for a particular category and geography. Cooperative and independent-store systems require attention to who buys centrally and who controls individual-store assortments. Dollar stores and pharmacies need a separate channel assessment. Their total store counts should not be blended into a supermarket ranking.

For two regional options from this shortlist, start with the retailers’ own supplier resources. Meijer’s prospective-vendor page provides a starting point for supplier enquiries. Wegmans’ supplier resources include new-supplier forms, category procedures and supply-chain requirements. Check the relevant category’s requirements before preparing a proposal; customer-service phone numbers are not a substitute for a supplier submission route.

How an F&B supplier should use this comparison

1. Define the first launch market. Pick a state or metro area and the shopper occasion your product serves. Match that with the retailer’s actual locations.
2. Build a landed-cost model. Include import costs where relevant, freight, distributor margin, promotional spending, spoilage and payment timing. Work backward from a plausible shelf price.
3. Choose the supply route. Confirm whether the category is bought directly or requires an approved distributor. A distributor agreement does not itself secure a retail listing.
4. Prepare the buyer evidence. Bring product specifications, case and pallet details, shelf life, food-safety documentation, insurance requirements, capacity and real sales evidence. Ask the retailer for its current category-specific onboarding requirements.
5. Design a measurable trial. Agree on stores, duration, replenishment, promotional support and the sales evidence needed for expansion.

Use our US food distributor comparison to distinguish retail distribution from foodservice, then the US distributor selection guide to prepare partner conversations. Imported brands should also check US food import requirements before committing inventory, and use our US food labeling guide to prepare questions for a product-specific label review.

Frequently asked questions

What is the largest grocery chain in the US?

Walmart is the largest grocery retailer; Kroger is the largest traditional supermarket operator. Always specify the format and sales measure. The table above keeps grocery-category sales separate from total-company sales.

Who are the big four grocery retailers?

Walmart, Kroger, Costco and Albertsons are commonly included in comparisons of large US grocery retailers. There is no universal “big four” definition: including clubs, online grocery or general merchandise changes the comparison. This guide does not present four company-revenue totals as comparable grocery sales.

Is Amazon bigger than Walmart in groceries?

Amazon’s overall revenue cannot answer that question because it includes businesses beyond grocery. Compare disclosed grocery operations using the same geography and category definition. We have not estimated Whole Foods sales from Amazon’s company revenue.

Which chain should a new food brand approach first?

Choose the chain whose shoppers, region, price point and delivery requirements fit the product you can supply. A focused regional test with credible economics can be more useful than seeking nationwide distribution immediately.

For help turning the shortlist into a route to market, explore GourmetPro’s United States market support and distributor and partner search.