Walmart is one of the largest retailers in the world, providing customers with a variety of products from groceries to electronics. With a significant chunk of its revenue generated by the food industry, Walmart has faced mounting scrutiny regarding the sourcing of its meat, specifically chicken.
As concerns over animal welfare, worker rights, and environmental impact grow, consumers are demanding more transparency from food suppliers. This article delves into the sourcing of Walmart’s chicken and sheds light on the practices implemented by the retail giant and its suppliers.
Overview of Walmart’s Chicken Supply Chain
Walmart’s chicken supply chain is a complex network of farmers, processors, distributors, and retailers. The company sources its chicken from a variety of suppliers, both domestically and internationally. Walmart’s primary suppliers of chicken in the United States are Tyson Foods, Pilgrim’s Pride, and Sanderson Farms.
The company also sources chicken products from other major poultry producers, including Perdue Farms and Wayne Farms. Walmart’s international chicken suppliers include companies such as Keystone Foods (which is owned by Tyson Foods) and the Brazilian meatpacking company JBS SA. Walmart’s chicken supply chain is subject to a range of regulations and quality control measures to ensure the safety and quality of its products. The company works closely with its suppliers to ensure that they meet its standards for animal welfare, food safety, and environmental sustainability.
Walmart’s Chicken Purchasing Practices and Standards
Walmart, like most retail giants, has a set of strict purchasing practices and standards in place when it comes to buying chicken. The company prefers to work with suppliers who provide quality products at competitive prices, while also meeting their safety and sustainability requirements. Walmart ensures that its poultry suppliers follow humane animal welfare practices, and they also audit suppliers regularly to ensure that they comply with their ethical and food safety standards.
Under Walmart’s purchasing practices and standards, all chicken suppliers must adhere to the USDA’s (United States Department of Agriculture) regulations regarding antibiotic use in poultry. The company also requires all of its chicken suppliers to meet Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) compliance standards and work towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Walmart has continued to strengthen its poultry purchasing program over the years, making it clear that the company is committed to providing consumers with high-quality and safe chicken that meets its standards.
Factors Influencing Walmart’s Choice of Chicken Suppliers
Walmart is the largest retailer in the world and requires massive quantities of chicken to meet its consumer’s demands. When choosing its chicken suppliers, the retail giant considers various factors, including price, quality, and availability. Walmart negotiates with suppliers on price to ensure it can provide its customers with affordable products. Cost remains the primary factor that affects the decision-making process for Walmart as it aims to maintain a competitive edge over rivals.
In addition, quality and availability are also crucial considerations for Walmart. Walmart wants to provide its customers with healthy and high-quality products. The chicken must meet the standards set by the USDA and Walmart’s requirements on the type of feed used, the living conditions, and the handling and processing. Walmart needs to ensure that there is enough supply to meet customer demands. Therefore, when Walmart chooses a supplier, it must consider its capacity to supply a consistent level of quality product, even during unpredictable situations like pandemics or natural disasters.
Walmart’s Relationship with Chicken Farmers and Processors
Walmart has always been very vocal about its commitment to resource efficiency, ethical sourcing, and ensuring its supply chain sustainability. As such, the retail giant prides itself on working closely with chicken farmers and processors to operate an ethical and responsible supply chain.
In this partnership, Walmart requires all its chicken suppliers to adhere to strict ethical and environmental standards such as animal welfare, responsible use of water and energy, and waste management practices. Walmart also works with various chicken processors to manage quality and safety controls and to implement responsible production practices at all stages of the supply chain. This proactive approach to supplier collaboration has helped the retail giant maintain its customer trust while raising industry standards and promoting a more sustainable and healthier food system.
Walmart’s Steps to Ensure Quality and Safety of Chicken Products
Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, is known for its stringent quality control mechanisms in procuring chicken products. It has put in place various measures to ensure the safety and quality of chicken products sold in its stores.
The first line of defense in ensuring the safety and quality of chicken products at Walmart is the strict compliance with US government regulations on the handling and transport of chicken products. Walmart has also implemented its own strict standards that suppliers must adhere to which include animal welfare, sustainable farming practices and an HACCP-based food safety management system. In addition, Walmart works closely with suppliers to ensure that chickens are raised, handled, and transported in ways that help to safeguard consumer health and safety. Walmart also employs independent testing and audits to ensure that its suppliers meet the highest standards of quality and safety for all chicken products.
Criticism and Controversies Surrounding Walmart’s Chicken Sourcing
Criticism and controversies have surrounded Walmart’s chicken sourcing for years. In 2017, the Humane Society of the United States released an undercover video at a Tyson Foods farm, one of Walmart’s chicken suppliers. The video showed chickens being stuffed in overcrowded cages, covered in feces, and routinely suffering from infections and injuries. This led to public backlash and calls for Walmart to improve its sourcing practices.
Walmart has also faced criticism for sourcing its chicken from foreign countries with different food safety and animal welfare standards. In 2015, Walmart faced a lawsuit for misleading customers about the country of origin of its chicken products, which were labeled as being from the USA but actually sourced from China. Critics argue that Walmart’s focus on cost and profitability comes at the expense of animal welfare and food safety, and that the company should prioritize responsible sourcing practices.
Future of Walmart’s Chicken Supply Chain in Light of Changing Market Trends.
As consumer demand for organic and natural products grows, retailers like Walmart are making strides to meet these changing market trends. Walmart has already begun transitioning its chicken supply chain to meet these evolving demands. The company has committed to sourcing all of its chicken from farms that meet the Global Animal Partnership’s (GAP) standards by 2024, which will mean all Walmart chicken suppliers will be certified by the independent organization.
In addition to GAP standards, Walmart has also moved towards purchasing a significant amount of its chicken from antibiotic-free farms. By doing so, Walmart has transformed itself from a company purchasing chicken for the lowest possible price to one setting a new benchmark for the entire industry by committing to an antibiotic-free supply chain. While this transition may be costly in the short term, it is one strategy that Walmart has adopted to keep up with and lead the latest market trends.
Final Words
Walmart, the largest retailer in the world, sells an enormous quantity of chicken every year. However, it seems the company has remained silent on disclosing where it sources its chicken from. From investigations and reports, it can be inferred that Walmart buys chicken from multiple suppliers, some of whom have faced allegations of animal abuse, environmental damage, and health hazards. While Walmart claims to have high standards for animal welfare, worker safety, and environmental sustainability, it remains unclear how strictly it enforces these standards across its complex supply chain.
Consumers have the right to know where their food comes from and how it is produced. Walmart’s refusal to be transparent about its poultry suppliers raises concerns about the safety, quality, and ethicality of its products. As conscious consumers, we have the power to demand more transparency and accountability from companies like Walmart. By choosing to support companies that prioritize sustainability and ethical sourcing, we can create a positive impact on the environment, animal welfare, and our health.