Ocado Group announced that its mutual exclusivity arrangements with major retailers have expired in most of its operating markets, including with Kroger in the United States. CEO Tim Steiner stated that Ocado is now “well positioned to help more retailers capture market share in the world’s fastest-growing grocery channel: online.” The company plans to leverage its AI-powered fulfillment solutions—comprising store-based automation, AI-driven manual picking and automated customer fulfillment centers (CFCs)—to pursue new contracts across Europe, North America and Asia Pacific.

In a November 18 update, Ocado confirmed that Kroger will close three of its eight U.S. CFCs in January 2026, while retaining five sites. Under the termination arrangement, Kroger will pay Ocado over $250 million in closure fees. Ocado will continue to support operations at the remaining five CFCs and is engaged in “constructive ongoing discussions” with Kroger regarding further deployment of its technology to optimize labor productivity, capacity and profitability in higher-density markets.

During 2025, Ocado launched its first CFC in Poland in partnership with Auchan Polska, inaugurated a new CFC in Spain with Bon Preu and rolled out its end-to-end Ocado Smart Platform in South Korea alongside Lotte. These three projects mark the company’s tenth, eleventh and twelfth international technology deployments since its initial CFC launch five years ago. Ocado reports that its automated solutions now support delivery options ranging from immediate and same-day to next-day and click-and-collect services.