“Attention TreeHugger Shoppers”
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 07.15.06
This past week was an important one for Wal-mart. In ways that we think herald the future of Corporate America at large, international attention was focused on presentations hosted at the retail giant's Bentonville headquarters. During Al Gore's visit, noted by the Associate Press, he “ praised Wal-Mart Stores Inc. for a newfound focus on environmental sustainability, saying it showed there was no conflict between the environment and the economy”.
Executives readied for Mr. Gore's visit, as reported by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette : “Matt Kistler, Sam’s Club vice president of product development, bought former Vice President Al Gore’s book on global warming at an airport and read it cover-to-cover on a 14-hour flight from Brazil”. (We’re wondering if Inconvenient Truth will be offered at a special price?)
US media looked on, with the Los Angeles Times commenting that “Bentonville, Ark., seemed like an Emerald City of sorts Wednesday…”
Environmental NGO’s braced for the increasingly real possibility that Wal-mart would lead a transformation, with Environmental Defense even suggesting it would hire the necessary staff to partner with the world’s largest retail store.
What brings environmental celebrity to Bentonville? Simple. The power players are there to give positive reinforcement, hoping that other corporate executives won't have a choice but to follow if they want to see their products get on Wal-Mart’s shelves, and their “goesintas” allowed in those products. Get to this “first down” and the crowd will come to its feet. That’s "Theory A” for explaining the attraction.
Perfectly cued to the occasion and no surprise from the company famed for strategic follow-through, Ad-Age this week splashed the headline story: “Wal-Mart Starts Its Organic-Food Push Multi-Million Dollar Campaign Puts Emphasis on Low Price” The leadoff: “Amid its $578 million review, Wal-Mart Stores is kicking off a multi-million dollar campaign focused on its new organic food offerings. The TV, radio, online, print and in-store push…”
Here are two highlights from the AdAge piece :
“As Wal-Mart positions itself to win over more affluent shoppers, the focus on organic food -- once considered a luxury of the affluent -- comes in the one category where it beats rival Target Stores handily”.
"The two barriers to organics has always been one, finding it, and the other, affording it. Wal-Mart has taken down both these barriers."
Wal-Mart’s need to create the draw is explained by the “once considered a luxury of the affluent” phrase. With the retailer’s traditional customer base forced to hand over to energy companies an ever expanding chunk of disposable income, they want to include TreeHuggers in their market. Therein lies the choice of our headline.
Now…we know we’ll be hearing from our readers about other issues that need also to be addressed. But remember, it’s early in the game.
Cheers to Walmart and I'll give credit where credit is due...but I never go to our local "weirdmart"...much prefer Target...I hope Target steps up, too.
I'm very excited by all of this, and I'm not even a Wal-Mart shopper (yet)...
In an era where the federal government has been egregiously neglectful and even detrimental in dealing with environmental concerns, it was first encouraging to see state and municipal governments picking up the slack...
Now with Wal-Mart leading the charge for organic foods and sustainability, I believe the corporate ripple effects will be far-reaching indeed. This could change the way business is conducted in the US for a very long time...
So to put this in perspective we are still talking about a giant corporation that doesnt care anything for small business or the effect it has had on small towns across America. It's still Wal-Mart.
=== author's response follows ====
Could we add to the perspective? What are the chances of hundreds of thousands of mom and pop stores attempting, and sucessfully delivering, on plans to make the supply chain sustainable, or offer organic foods, etc?
In my opinion the tourch is carried too high for small bussiness owners. For those of us on the lower end of the income scale Wal-mart provides jobs(did for me for while) that I never would have had at a Small bussiness where the owners are generally the employees. On the same token I'm also not going to pay more at a mom and pop store because it is a noble thing to do when income is limited to begin with.
I agree with "authors response"...I know Corp America crushes the small guys, but at least the right message and motive will be broadcast to the mainstream masses who are cluelesss and think anyone who cares for the planet is a freak of (mother) nature...they may trust that weirdmart is making a good decision and be more aware of the issues...and the opportunity here for mother earth is huge. I hope processed chemical food/products businesses are shaking in their boots, or at least looking for ways to be more responsible...everyone needs to get back to caring about what we're doing to the planet and our bodies, not just us hip treehuggers, but the wierdmarters, too ;D
UPDATE...while typing this I just saw the "INTRODUCING ORGANICS TO WALMART" commerical on HGTV...the spot was pretty slick...I'm impressed.
"sheri' mora" In Illinois my local Target has bamboo sheets/blankets/pillows and just started selling the Seventh Generation line of dish soap and cleaning products. I email Target via their web site every chance I get to thank them for adding quality products that keep the earth in mind. Slowly I inject the "buy local" message in as well as pointing out what the recent Newsweek article said WalMart found out about organic cotton. Hopefully they keep their word and focus their buyers in the same way WalMart appears to be doing.
Bottom line: Enough consumers demand it buisness will do it.
Thanks "darkstar"..I buy the Goodnest (the BEST working & smelling laundry deter. I've EVER used!!)products and similar cleaning lines sold @ Target, but I'll hit them up via email, too, to spread this over to the food/bev and personal care isles...I'll keep my eyes open for those sheets...gotta have 'em! Thanks!
First, I have to say that this is a good thing Walmart is doing. That being said, I an going to do everything I can to keep out of their stores if i can find a smaller business alternative.
Plus, from what I hear, Walmart is doing its best to lower the USDA standard in organic produce. Not sure of the truth behind this but if anyone else has that info I'd love to check it out.
An interesting thought about big box stores though... Being able to go to one store for most of your needs cuts down drastically on time spent shopping and driving around. Also has less of a net impact on the landscape ... in that it eliminates the need for all the specialized stores that all need their own utilities, land, parking, etc. (I think it's a step up fromt he endless strip malls of the 50's and 60's) Just a thought, feel free to challenge :)
i read a great article in the new yorker where they talk about the effect on the industry wal mart may have. It said that they will probably drive down prices for organic food so much, that local growers will go bankrupt, and the standards for USDA organic foods will slip as a result of farmers and their lobbyists compensating for their losses. I really have mixed feelings about wal mart going organic. Like they say, "be careful what you wish for."
This is great news for the organic producers. Apple producers for instance really felt the surge when McDonalds started buying apples. Dairy farms in Sweden were saved in bundles with the advent of the latte drinking generation. The same is bound to happen for organic farmers. But don´t feel sorry for anyone that has to compete on production and prices. That´s why people are running their own businesses; the feeling of being able to succeed where others have gone wrong. Keeping high Organic standards is something we consumers have to lobby for and spend real money on.
You're right, Max. Additionally, this food will still be grown in California and South America, so lots of petroleum will be used to transport it. We would all do much better to try and shop at farmers' markets instead.