1


                                                                   Exhibit 23.1


                       CONSENT OF INDEPENDENT ACCOUNTANTS

We hereby consent to the incorporation by reference in this Registration
Statement on Form S-3 of our report (which includes an explanatory paragraph
relating to the restatement of the consolidated financial statements as of and
for each of the two years in the period ended January 29, 2000 and the Company's
change in its application of the LIFO method of accounting for store inventories
as of December 28, 1997) dated April 30, 2001 relating to the consolidated
financial statements, which appears in The Kroger Co.'s Annual Report on Form
10-K for the year ended February 3, 2001. We also consent to the reference to us
in the first paragraph under the heading "Experts" in such Registration
Statement.

(PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP)
PricewaterhouseCooper LLP

Cincinnati, Ohio
May 25, 2001