CINCINNATI — Kroger Co. is responding to the historic retail disruption wrought by the coronavirus pandemic by doubling down on its values and purpose.

“Throughout the public health crisis, our entire team of 500,000 associates has worked tirelessly to provide a safe environment for our customers and each other, with open stores, e-commerce solutions and an efficiently operating supply chain so that our communities have access to fresh, affordable food and essentials,” Rodney McMullen, Kroger’s chairman and chief executive officer, said this month in launching the Simple Truth Recycling Program, giving shoppers a free and easy way to recycle packaging on some 300 of Kroger’s Simple Truth natural and organic products.

“At Kroger, our purpose — to feed the human spirit — means we are driven to do more and help make the lives of those around us better, especially in times of uncertainty,” McMullen said.

Kroger wasted little time at the start of the crisis in developing a blueprint for how businesses could safely reopen. The blueprint reflects what Kroger learned over the first six weeks of the pandemic in safeguarding the health of its employees and shoppers. “We decided from the onset of this crisis that transparency, agility and responsiveness would be our guiding principles, and we are now sharing what we’ve learned as an extension of our values,” McMullen said.

McMullen noted that Kroger’s strategic investments in e-commerce over the past two and half years had positioned the company to effectively respond to surging pandemic-related demand for grocery delivery, pickup and ship-to-home services. Kroger’s digital sales increased 92% in the quarter ended May 23.

Earlier this month, the company announced it was diversifying its two-year-old Kroger Ship service by adding a marketplace for third-party sellers.

“To better serve our customers, we’re continuing to invest in technology that enables us to expand our digital services to deliver anything, anytime, anywhere,” said Jody Kalmbach, group vice president of product experience. “Leveraging Mirakl’s best-in-class marketplace solution, we are broadening Kroger’s ship-to-home capabilities by offering more relevant products for our customers through exciting new partnerships with reputable third-party sellers.”

Initially, more than 50,000 additional items will be available across categories, including natural and organic, international food, specialty items, housewares and toys.

Also this month the company’s health care division, Kroger Health, launched an employee-focused health and wellness solution, called COVIDCare Plus, that’s designed to help U.S. companies overcome COVID-related testing challenges that might hinder their ability to restart and maintain their business operations. The program is centered on Kroger Health’s FDA-authorized COVID-19 Test Home Collection Kit, which combines self-collection testing with virtual supervision by a licensed health care professional.

“At Kroger Health, we are grateful to be part of the solution by providing employers with COVID-19 testing that has a short turnaround time. This is paramount to keeping American businesses open and people at work,” said Colleen Lindholz, president of Kroger Health.

Such efforts are also burnishing Kroger’s reputation with consumers. The company received high marks for its COVID-19 efforts in this year’s Axios Harris Poll 100, a ranking based on a survey of 34,026 Americans on their top-of-mind awareness of companies that either excel or falter in society. These 100 “most visible companies” are then ranked across seven key dimensions of reputation. Kroger ranks ninth on the 2020 list, moving up a dozen spots from its 2019 ranking. Kroger was noted as a top performer on two new measures in this year’s survey,  Best on COVID and Best on racial equality.

“The dual crises of COVID-19 and racial injustice have only accelerated Kroger’s long-standing commitment to supporting our associates, customers and communities,” said Keith Dailey, Kroger’s group vice president of corporate affairs and chief communications and sustainability officer.