Walmart reported its strongest quarter of food sales growth in a year with $3.3 billion in its third quarter earnings, making it still a big threat to other retailers like Kroger and Whole Foods.

According to the Business Insider Walmart posted Tuesday a $3.3 billion third quarter earnings, which translates to $1.03 a share, 98 cents a share higher than analyst's estimates. Meanwhile, same-stores sales grew in the US by 1.5 percent, which is the fifth consecutive quarter of increase. Fifty six percent of retail stores' sales come from Groceries.

Profit Confidential reported that Walmart traffic increased 1.7 percent, while revenue dropped 1.3 percent to $117.4 billion. International sales grew 3.2 percent. Despite the drop in revenue, it is still a solid figure. The topline is not as bad as its peers. The bottom line, however, will still continue to suffer from the increasing wage-related expenses.

Meanwhile, Kroger reached $11 billion in organic and natural product sales. Meanwhile organic space leader Whole Foods posted $14 billion last year. This means Kroger is not far behind its competition.

"We got [to $11 billion in sales] because our customers lead us there," said Kroger spokesperson Keith Dailey. "We worked very hard to shift our product selection to meet that need, and in some cases to be ahead of that need. In our view, Kroger helped to move natural and organic to the mainstream by making products more affordable and accessible in our stores."

According to Louisevile Business First, Kroger's expansion is rapid as it recently bought 14 acres of land in Oldham County for $2.5 million to build a Market store. It is larger than the usual Kroger market store. this means it will have larger food and retail section. 

On the other hand, Walmart is enhancing its fresh department to fend of competition. A research, however, revealed that Kroger has better customer satisfaction ratings compared to Walmart. That is not a good sign, considering that Walmart offers lower prices than other retailers. Its grocery prices are 10 percent to 15 percent lower compared to Kroger's prices.  

There are also customers' complaints on the lack of fresh produce, empty shelves and poor service in Walmart stores.