Walmart Announces Doubling Of Locally-Sourced Food By 2015

In October 2010, Walmart announced its intention to extend its locally-produced offerings by doubling the share of food produced in-state to 9 percent by 2015. The move is to meet one of the strongest current consumer demands, underlined by the growth in farmers markets, which exceeded 6,000 this year. Other supermarket chains are also addressing the trend, which is based on a perception of higher quality and a desire to support local farmers and communities. Supply, however, could be constrained by farmers’ reluctance to scale up, knowing they can often attract retail prices at farmers markets, as well as the additional formalities required to move to supplying wholesalers, such as insurance, transportation, packaging, and food safety conditions. However, with the trend powered by Walmart, there’s a good chance that it will become mainstream sometime in the future.