At the same time, 84% of consumers said that they will continue to shop online the same amount or more in the future.
82% of consumers polled across the country are feeling the impact of inflation, and one in four consumers are not confident in their finances right now.
We are very proud to share that Home Chef became a $1 billion brand on an annualized basis in the third quarter as mealtime shortcuts and solutions, as well as new product innovations, have clearly resonated with our customers.
Kroger is focused on delivering a customer-centric, seamless experience that requires 0 compromise no matter how customers choose to engage with us.
This unique convenience and immediacy offering positions us to win more trips with current customers and to bring new customers to the Kroger ecosystem by offering the largest selection of quality fresh products at affordable prices in 30 minutes.
Our hybrid hiring event last month contributed to the hiring of over 64,000 new associates during the quarter.
Over 405,000 associates have completed diversity and inclusion training.
We've increased our strategic hiring partnerships with Historically Black Colleges & Universities and Hispanic-serving institutions from six to 17.
Foundation has awarded more than $3 million in grants to support innovative organizations focused on building more equitable and inclusive communities, and we increased Kroger's diverse supplier spend by 21% to $4.1 billion last year alone and remain on track toward our long-term goal to spend $10 billion annually with diverse suppliers by 2030.
Our identical sales without fuel in the quarter returned to positive, growing 3.1% as we delivered for our customers across our seamless ecosystem, and customers, again, signaled higher food-at-home consumption is here to stay.
Adjusted FIFO operating profit and adjusted earnings per share both increased year over year and grew by compounded annual growth rates of 22% and 29%, respectively, versus 2019.
This triggered a write-off of deferred losses and a nonrecurring noncash charge of $87 million on a pre-tax basis.
This company pension plan is currently 100% funded as a result of previous action taken to freeze the plan and protect benefits for our associates.
The second unusual item was Kroger recording a nonrecurring benefit of $47 million or $0.07 per diluted share, primarily due to the favorable outcome of income tax audit examinations, covering multiple years.
On a two-year stack basis, our identical sales without fuel increased 14%.
We also saw digital sales increased 103% on a two-year stack.
Gross margin was 21.66% of sales for the third quarter.
The FIFO gross margin rate, excluding fuel, decreased 41 basis points compared to the same period last year.
Recognizing recent inflation trends and our outlook for the rest of the year, we recorded a higher LIFO charge for the quarter of $93 million, compared to $23 million in the prior year.
This increase represents a $0.07 headwind to earnings per share in the quarter versus 2020.
The operating, general and administrative rates decreased 49 basis points, excluding fuel and adjustment items.
We remain on track to deliver $1 billion of cost savings during 2021.
Our alternative profit business had a record third quarter and remains on track to deliver the high end of our expected range of $100 million to $150 million of incremental operating profit in 2021.
Gallons grew in the third quarter by 5%, outpacing market growth.
The average retail price of fuel was $3.24 this quarter versus $2.15 in the same quarter last year.
Our cents per gallon fuel margin was $0.42, compared to $0.37 in the same quarter in 2020.
Kroger is operating from a position of strength and continues to generate strong free cash flow as evidenced by our net debt-to-EBITDA ratio hitting an all-time low of 1.68 in the third quarter.
While we continue to see attractive opportunities to invest in the business, to widen our competitive moat, and drive sustainable revenue and earnings growth, our capital expenditures in 2021 are now expected to be below our original guidance range of $3.4 billion to $3.6 billion.
During the quarter, we repurchased $297 million of shares, and year to date, have repurchased $1 billion of shares.
Since 2000, we have now returned more than $20 billion to shareholders via share repurchases at an average price of $16.45 per share.
As of the end of the third quarter, $511 million remains outstanding under the current Board authorization announced on June 17, 2021.
In addition to the $350 million of hourly rate investment already planned this year, we have committed to further investments in the fourth quarter, which equates to an incremental $100 million on an annualized basis.
During the third quarter, we ratified new labor agreements with the UFCW for associates in our Columbus and Mid-Atlantic divisions, covering over 4,500 associates.
We now expect identical sales without fuel for the full year to be between negative 0.4% and negative 0.2% and a two-year identical sales stack of between 13.7% to 13.9%.
There remain some uncertainties as we look ahead, and our guidance of positive ID sales excluding fuel of between 1.5% to 2.5% in the fourth quarter reflects this.
We expect adjusted net earnings per diluted share to be in the range of $3.40 to $3.50.
We expect our adjusted FIFO operating profit to be in the range of $4.1 billion to $4.2 billion, reflecting a two-year compounded annual growth rate of between 17% and 18.4%.
And because we recorded a LIFO credit in the fourth quarter last year, LIFO is now expected to be a $0.13 headwind to earnings per share in the fourth quarter.
In conclusion, Kroger is executing against its key financial and operational initiatives and continues to invest in strategic priorities that will deliver attractive and sustainable total shareholder return of 8% to 11% over time.

Summary:
Our identical sales without fuel in the quarter returned to positive, growing 3.1% as we delivered for our customers across our seamless ecosystem, and customers, again, signaled higher food-at-home consumption is here to stay.
We also saw digital sales increased 103% on a two-year stack.
We now expect identical sales without fuel for the full year to be between negative 0.4% and negative 0.2% and a two-year identical sales stack of between 13.7% to 13.9%.
We expect adjusted net earnings per diluted share to be in the range of $3.40 to $3.50.