In a recent article by Jessica Wohl of Reuters news service it is reported Walmart shoppers have saved $2.3 billion by buying produce at its stores in the first two years of its push to sell more healthful fare and more of it, the largest U.S. grocer reports.
Walmart shoppers saved $1.2 billion on fresh fruits and vegetables in 2012 and $1.1 billion in 2011, based on third-party verified pricing comparisons between its stores and those of unidentified rivals, the huge chain said. Keys to keeping a lid on prices were efforts such as buying more local produce and cutting supply chain costs.
Walmart reported in January 2011 that it wanted to improve the nutritional value of the food it sells, make healthier fare less expensive and make it easier for Americans to access such goods.
Customers of the world’s largest retailer are struggling to put healthful food on the table, especially with higher gasoline prices and payroll taxes.
“They’ve repeatedly told us that while they want to feed their families healthier food, they don’t always know how to do that and they worry that it is simply too expensive,” Leslie Dach, Walmart’s executive vice president of corporate affairs told Reuters.
Consumers and public health officials have been pressuring grocers, restaurants and food makers to sell more healthful food in an effort to address the nation’s obesity crisis. More than two-thirds of U.S. adults and nearly one-third of youth aged 2 to 19 are overweight or obese.
Food is a huge business for Wal-Mart, which has been lowering prices, along with its healthier makeover, to boost sales. Groceries, including goods such as paper towels, account for roughly 55 percent of Walmart’s sales.
Walmart and other chains in 2011 publicly committed to opening stores in designated rural and urban “food deserts” where access to groceries is limited. Ssome of those urban areas in Wal-Mart’s case, include markets where it has faced resistance to its big stores.
Walmart has opened 86 such food stores since 2011 and aims to open a total of 275 to 300 of them by the end of 2016.