Organic food confined to PR for WAL*MART?
A year ago, WAL*MART announced plans to aggressively move into the organic food market. Soon, customers would be snapping up any of a bounty of 400 organic products - healthy living for the masses. Forget exploited overseas child labor, no employee health insurance, government subsidies and soul-sucking drudgery - now WAL*MART is selling organic! Welcome, former Whole Foods shoppers!
But then in January, it was revealed that WAL*MART was "under investigation in the US over allegations it is trying to pass off non-organic foods as organic."
And now BusinessWeek reports that WAL*MART (h/t Americablog) has backed off from initial stocking projections by as much as 75%, putting stress on organic farmers which have to plan organic crops at least four years in advance in order to receive certification.
A year ago last March Wal-Mart grabbed headlines by announcing its organic push. Stephen Quinn, a top marketing executive, told investors at a Bear Stearns conference that the company would double the number of organic food items in its stores to 400 and offer them "at the Wal-Mart price." But now Karen Burk, a spokeswoman for the company, says that the majority of Wal-Mart stores are offering between 100 and 200 organic food items.Burk denies that this means the company has fallen short of its goals. She said Quinn had been misinterpreted and hadn't meant to suggest that Wal-Mart stores would actually carry 400 organic items. He meant that the company would make as many as 400 organic items available to store managers; if they choose to stock only 25% to 50% of those items, it is simply a reflection of local demand.
Ah, the misquote. Isn't it interesting how writing down the exact words of someone, in a formal business setting no less, is so frequently not what that person intended to say? Why is there such a pervasive disconnect between mouths and brains?
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Comments (2)
Some statistics:
* 0.2% of U.S. Farmland is organic
* 2.5% of the U.S. food consumption is organic
* 42% of the worldwide organic food supply is consumed by the U.S.
* Organic food sales have gone from $3.6 billion in 1997 to $13.8 billion in 2005
* the U.S. imports $1.3 billion worth of organics (versus $0.2 billion exports)
* Fruits and vegetables have the highest sales ($5.4 billion) followed by dairy ($2.1 billion)
My source was Wired (January 2007), but the original sources were Nutrition Business Journal, Organic Monitor, Organic Trade Association, Research Institute of Organic Agriculture, and US Department of Agriculture
Comment #1 Posted by: Kenley | April 16, 2007 12:49 PM
Wallmart and organic go together like oil and water. Oil and Wallmart sleep in the same bed of money. Anyone who buys organic in Wallmart has their wires crossed which is the majority of American sheeple. Raising consciousness is slow but sure. Thanks for the post. It helps the cause of consciousness.
Comment #2 Posted by: Dennis Leary | April 17, 2007 11:58 AM