Walmart’s Dairy Suppliers Get Behind Company’s Sustainability Index

Food sustainability expert Cheryl Baldwin, Ph.D., believes Walmart – particular its Sustainability Index – is playing a major role in the awakening of the dairy supply chain in the U.S. to the benefits of sustainability. The Index – a set of category-specific questions about sustainability performance on key issues answered by suppliers twice each year – was developed by Walmart as part of its own efforts to achieve its broader sustainability goals. Dairy merchants were among the first of Walmart’s suppliers to begin using the Index in the fall of 2012. The 14 Index questions for dairy suppliers target key environmental hotspots: cow manure; the many inputs required to make feed; gases cows produce during digestion, etc. Walmart’s goal is to have 70 percent of its products using the Index by 2017.