Walmart wants to increase locally grown produce sales

Plans to double sales

Jon Boyd, Oct 17, 10.

Walmart announced a plan to increase its sales of locally-grown produce, with goals of 9% of produce sold in the United States by 2015, and 30% of produce sold in Canada by 2013, as reported by the Associated Press in the Houston Chronicle.

Wal-Mart plans to double its sales of locally sourced produce in the U.S. by the end of 2015.

The move by the world’s biggest retailer is part of a new sustainable agriculture strategy that looks to steer more business to small and medium-sized farmers globally while also reducing farming’s environmental impact.
If Wal-Mart meets its goals in the U.S., local produce will still make up only 9 percent of the produce it sells. But the retailer’s sheer scale has the potential for a sizable impact. More than half of Wal-Mart’s $405 billion in annual revenue is from food.

In other countries the goals are bolder. Wal-Mart said it would source 30 percent of its produce in Canadian stores locally by 2013’s end and set a goal of 100 percent when local sources are available.

Wal-Mart plans to buy more of select U.S. crops. It also plans to train 1 million farmers and farm workers in emerging markets in crop selection, sustainable farming practices and other subjects and selling $1 billion in food sourced from 1 million small and medium-sized farmers.

Walmart’s press release did not define “locally grown,” but mentioned a plan to use a Florida cilantro supplier for distribution on the east coast, instead of shipping cilantro from California. Walmart also made these claims in a company fact sheet (pdf):

During the fall harvest season Walmart sells locally grown pumpkins in 27 states – more than half the country – making Walmart the largest local pumpkin distributor in the U.S. Additionally, customers can find local apples in 17 states, sweet potatoes in seven states, and cranberries from 50 small cranberry growers across the country.

[snip]

During the summer months, locally grown fruits and vegetables that are both grown and available for purchase at Walmart within a state’s borders make up a fifth of the produce available in stores.