Walmart enters the Angus beef business

To ensure supply of quality Angus beef and to meet customer demand for a more transparent supply chain, Walmart announced this week that it is creating its own supply chain to sell no-hormone-added Angus beef cuts in 500 Walmart stores across the Southeast later this year.

“As clean labels, traceability and transparency become more and more important to customers, we’ve made plans to enter into the beef industry creating an unmatched system that allows us to deliver consistent quality and value,” said Scott Neal, senior vice president, meat, Walmart U.S. “By enlisting a number of best-in-class companies to take part in the supply chain, we’ll be able to provide customers with unprecedented quality, provide transparency throughout the supply chain and leverage the learnings we gain across our business.”

Wal-Mart is adding visibility into every step in the supply chain, according to Neal, and to that end the retailer is working with best-in-class suppliers to create an end-to-end Angus beef supply chain. Texas rancher Bob McClaren of 44 Farms and Prime Pursuits is helping source cattle raised on family farms and ranches. In addition, Mc6 Cattle Feeders will feed the cattle and Creekstone Farms will process the cattle at their facility, where more than 250 jobs will be created. FPL Foods will operate Walmart’s case-ready packing facility in Georgia, where the meat gets packaged and sent to the stores, creating an additional 200 plus jobs there.

“No bigger paradigm change has taken place in the beef industry than what is happening with Walmart bringing truly high-quality, all-natural, no-hormones-added Black Angus beef to its customers. This bold vision gives Walmart a special place at the table by contributing to the most enjoyable and memorable moments in the lives of its customers,” said Prime Pursuits’ McClaren. “It’s been four generations since we began, yet the traditional values of the McClaren family and 44 Farms are as relevant today as they were more than a century ago.”

“Walmart has listened to its hard-working customers and taken on the monumental task of providing steakhouse quality, natural Black Angus beef to their local stores. This bold vision will not only elevate backyard barbeques and family dinner tables across the country, but transform the entire supply chain,” said Hank McWhorter of Mc6 Cattle Feeders. “Mc6 Cattle Feeders is honored to help make this vision a reality. Mc6 is a family business that has been feeding and raising cattle on the same land in the Texas panhandle for four generations.”

Walmart’s Neal added, “Beef is an important purchase for our customer… it’s likely the most expensive item on their plate and they are treating themselves when they buy it. Creating this supply chain allows us to treat our customers by giving them unprecedented quality and transparency.”

A selection of Angus beef cuts like steaks and roasts from the new supply chain will be sold at 500 stores across a number of states in the southeast including Georgia, Alabama and Florida. Previously, Wal-Mart bought the majority of its beef needs from Tyson and Cargill.