John W. Solomon worked tirelessly on behalf of The Kroger Co. for 40 years in both grocery stores and corporate offices in Detroit, St. Louis and Cincinnati as a sourcing manager, category manager and product development manager, covering 35 unique private brand categories from frozen to paper to vegetables, fruits and tomatoes. During his long career, John was a champion to his suppliers and his company in creating and launching hundreds of innovative and exciting Kroger brand items and inventing entire industries with his advice and foresight.  John was an early adapter to the idea that conventional supermarkets could play in a specialty space and launched his initial organic store brand during recessionary times. The launch was considered high risk and precarious by many, but his determination and confidence in the banner weathered the doubters and lived through to see an amazing national success. Today, Kroger’s Simple Truth Organic brand has annual sales of over $2 billion in 2,800 stores in more than 35 states.