CINCINNATI — Kroger Co. has opened a Culinary Innovation Center here, complete with cooking stations and video streaming capabilities for sharing information with store teams around the country.

“Kroger’s new Culinary Innovation Center is an exciting state-of-the-art test kitchen and education center,” said Daniel Hammer, Kroger’s vice president of culinary development and new business. “As we focus on redefining the customer experience and developing talent through food inspiration and uplift, as outlined in Restock Kroger, this R&D lab will allow us to accelerate product development for Our Brands, produce new recipes for Prep + Pared Meal Kits, explore new restaurant concepts, host food tastings and focus groups, and increase our associates’ culinary knowledge.”

Kroger began construction on the 12,000-square-feet, LEED-designed center in March 2017.

“The Center gives our culinary team a fun, modern space to innovate and experiment with food trends, flavors, and ingredients to create new experiences for our customers,” Hammer said.

Kroger introduced its first restaurant concept Kitchen 1883 in November and launched its Prep+Pared meal kits earlier last year. Kroger says it plans to rapidly grow the footprint of the Prep+Pared meal kits, which are available for purchase in stores and through ClickList, this year.

“Kroger has operated grocery stores since 1883; we know food,” Hammer said. “People will always eat, but the way they eat will always change. Our new Center is one more tool we have to keep our pulse on customer trends and expand our foodie culture.”