Kroger is cautious about paying their employees too much.
If they pay you too much, then Uncle Sam won't be able to subsidize your check with EBT, WIC, Section 8, etc, and you'd have to get a better job somewhere else. And Rodney wouldn't be able to afford a separate private jet for every vacation mansion. And the local union president wouldn't have a vault of gold coins to swim through like Scrooge McDuck.
So, Kroger is specifically cautious to barely pay their employees. Not only is it best for the shareholders, but also for the employees and union as well.
In some states, caution pay literally is literally only peanuts (unsalted because it's a tax thing) and can't be used to buy potatoes. Or at least not fresh ones. That's probably what he meant.
