Wal-Mart to offer more organics in coming weeks

by Nick Vagnoni, Posted Mar 7th 2006 @ 5:17PM

Wal-Mart is already the number one seller of organic milk, but in the next few weeks, the retail giant plans to increase its selection of organic products, according to a recent Reuters article. Wal-Mart's head of dry grocery told Reuters that customers can expect the amount of organic offerings at Wal-Mart to soon double. While the stated goal is to offer organic products at a low price, some worry that the enormous quantities required by a retailer like Wal-Mart may continue to push organic suppliers and lawmakers to weaken organic standards. A New York Times article explains, citing both the Organic Trade Association and the Organic Consumers Association.

Filed Under: Farming, Business, Trends, Newspapers, Stores & Shopping
Tags: organic, reuters, standards, stores-and-shopping, wal-mart, walmart

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

3-07-2006 @7:56PM rainey said... Just how many small organic growers is Walmart going to put out of business with its rapacious policy of squeezing out any profit margin for suppliers or by pitting them directly against the mega growers/factory farms? And who really believes they'll be getting "organic" produce from the mega growers that Walmart will need to satisfy its supply needs?

I take this with a grain of salt. Of course, I'm one of the people who is sworn never to do business with Walmart. ...have an exclusion clause in our instructions to our stockbroker as well.
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3-08-2006 @2:36AM WebTodd said... just stamp it "organic" and consumers will pay twice as much, amazing! good for wal-mart
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3-08-2006 @6:31AM digginsjr1 said... Rainey, love your exclusion clause....I've never stepped foot into a Walmart for a variety of reasons. As far as organic foods go in Walmart, the smaller farms/manufacturers will still be better off selling their wares thru other avenues, keeping with their mentality of keeping it simple and grounded. The large organic producers will sell out. Just keep supporting the little guys!!!
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3-08-2006 @11:47AM David Blaine said... If the "little guys" want to preserve the "little guy" way of life they are going to have to make some changes to their game plan. Restaurants are not going to be buying from Wal-Mart but they will feel the effect of that giant yellow smiley face sucking up the large distribution organic products. When Earth Greens brand baby greens is all being bought up by Wal-Mart I will rely even more heavily on small local producers. The "little guy" will always have a market with restaurants but that requires them to do more footwork than dropping of a pallet at the local Co-Op.
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3-09-2006 @4:10PM Kelly said... For those of you who say that you won't step foot in a Walmart you must be one of the lucky ones that have money and can afford to pay more for your purchases. For those of us that don't have a lot of money or just don't like paying more than we have to for the same exact item Walmart is who we turn to for product affordability. As for organic it is just a way for stores to charge more for the same exact product. It is like all of the name brand items out there, just because they are a well known brand does not make them better then the generic brands and many times they are the same exact item off from the same production line and just given different labels in the end. This is true for clothes, housewares, clothes, etc. So for example the next time you are going to buy that expensive loaf of bread you might want to think about going with the cheaper store brand because more than likely it is the same exact bread you are getting just in different packaging.
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7-27-2006 @11:57PM james vourakis said... yes thank you for organic food but you have to do it right...now i would also like to order on line and have it delivered to me...your super store is too far away to go by car...please answer this e mail
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