The initiative comes as the world’s largest retailer tries
to overcome political and union opposition to its expansion in urban areas like
New York City, Chicago and Washington, D.C., by touting its ability to bring
lower-priced fruits, vegetables and other healthy foods to “food deserts” in
cities and rural areas that lack traditional grocery chains.
Michelle Obama leads an administration initiative to combat
child obesity and has already pushed food makers to quickly reformulate food to
make it healthier.
The first lady joined Wal-Mart executives as they announced
the plan in Washington on Thursday and said she was “thrilled about Wal-Mart’s
new nutrition charter.” “To say I’m excited is probably an understatement
because we’re really gaining some momentum on this issue,” Mrs. Obama said,
speaking in front of crates packed with fruits and vegetables. “We are seeing a
fundamental shift in our national conversation about how we make and sell food.
That’s something that wasn’t happening just a year ago.”
Wal-Mart is the largest seller of food in the United States,
so any move it makes can have a ripple effect on the food supply chain. It has
the potential to affect everyone from farmers to grocery stores, drugstores and
even dollar stores, which have been beefing up their food offerings.
Wal-Mart plans to reduce the amount of sodium and added
sugars in its packaged foods, and to remove all remaining industrially produced
trans fats from those goods, by 2015.
The company said it would work with suppliers to improve the
nutritional quality of its own Great Value brand as well as national food
brands. It also said it could save shoppers about $1 billion per year on fresh
fruits and vegetables by cutting costs out of sourcing, transportation and
logistics, through changes such as buying more produce from local farms.
The retailer is developing a seal to help shoppers identify
healthier food options, such as whole grain cereals and unsweetened canned
fruit. The seal will be added to Wal-Mart’s own products later this year and be
offered to suppliers for products that meet its criteria.
The efforts should not eat into Wal-Mart’s profits, the
company said.
“The initiative that we’re launching today will hopefully be
additive but most definitely won’t be dilutive to any of the earnings
projections that we’ve talked about earlier,” said Bill Simon, president and
chief executive officer of Wal-Mart’s US business.
Wal-Mart shares were up 66 cents, or 1.5 percent, at $55.83
in midday trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
Thursday’s announcement comes three months after Wal-Mart
announced plans to double the sales of fresh produce from local farms in its US
stores by the end of 2015. That move was part of a broader strategy to revamp
its global produce supply chain.
Companies that reformulate their products to meet Wal-Mart’s
criteria would likely sell those foods in other outlets as well. That could
improve their image and bolster efforts smaller chains have taken to show that
they, too, want to improve the nutrition of the foods they sell.
Wal-Mart said its package seal would complement the
front-of-package nutrition labeling system already being discussed by the food
industry.
The battle for food spending was heating up even before
Wal-Mart’s new initiative. Nontraditional food sellers such as Target Corp,
Family Dollar Stores Inc, Walgreen Co and others have dedicated more space to
food in their stores to lure shoppers, even as grocery stores face soaring
costs.
Changes that Wal-Mart spearheads spread much further than
its store doors. Starting in 2007, detergent makers such as Procter &
Gamble Co quickly reformulated their products to remove water and reduce
package sizes after Wal-Mart pushed suppliers for more environmentally-friendly
products. The manufacturers absorbed millions of dollars in costs to meet the
changes Wal-Mart was seeking.
