Wakefern's Sales Growth Slows to 2%, Its Weakest Since 2021

Wakefern Food Corp. grew retail sales just 2% in fiscal 2026, reaching $21.5 billion — the grocery cooperative's slowest growth rate since 2021, it announced Monday.

The fiscal year, which ran 53 weeks and closed Oct. 3, still produced gains. But the pace has clearly cooled. Wakefern posted 3.1% growth in fiscal 2025, 2.2% in fiscal 2024, 5.5% in fiscal 2023 and 4.7% in fiscal 2022. In plain terms, the co-op has gone from adding roughly $1 billion a year during its fiscal 2023 peak to about $400 million this year.

Wakefern didn't sugarcoat the context. Like other supermarket operators, it has watched sales growth tail off as traditional grocers fight mass retailers, discounters and other competitors for food spending. The co-op's statement named the trend but didn't break out which rivals are taking the most share — a gap worth noting for anyone tracking the grocery channel.

What did members do with their capital?

Plenty, on paper. Member companies invested more than $150 million during fiscal 2026 in new stores, renovations and other improvements, according to the co-op. That works out to nearly $400,000 per store across the more than 380 independently owned supermarkets Wakefern encompasses in nine East Coast states.

The openings added up to seven stores: five ShopRite locations, one Price Rite Marketplace and one The Fresh Grocer. Growth, in other words, is coming from selective reinvestment rather than aggressive expansion — seven openings against an installed base of 380-plus stores.

Wakefern also pushed its wholesale business beyond its home turf. It made Di Bruno Bros., the Italian and European specialty grocery line it acquired in 2024, available in all 50 states. That's a notable bet: a regional co-op using a specialty brand to build a national distribution footprint.

The co-op broadened its e-commerce operations as well, including delivery and pickup, during the latest fiscal year. And in its 80th year of operations, it said it stepped up training and development programs for retail and corporate employees.

Why did the co-op restructure its sales team?

Earlier this year, Wakefern reorganized its sales and marketing team, saying the move reflected a decision to refocus customer communications around its eight banners. The restructuring replaced 79 roles with 73 newly created positions within Wakefern and at an outside media agency, the co-op said.

The net loss of six jobs is small, but the logic isn't: consolidating communications under eight banners — ShopRite, The Fresh Grocer, Morton Williams, Price Rite Marketplace, Gourmet Garage, Fairway Market, Dearborn Market and Di Bruno Bros. — suggests Wakefern wants tighter brand control as growth flattens.

What the announcement doesn't say is how much of the $21.5 billion came from e-commerce or wholesale versus core retail, or whether members' $150 million investment bought measurable traffic gains. Those numbers would tell us whether the co-op is holding ground or buying time.

For now, the takeaway is simple: Wakefern is still growing, still investing, and still opening stores — just at the slowest clip it has seen since the post-pandemic slump. How the co-op's national Di Bruno Bros. push and refocused marketing land in fiscal 2027 will show whether 2% was a floor or a waypoint.