Walmart aims to cut supply chain cost

FT.com January 3, 2010

Walmart is launching a drive this year to cut billions of dollars of costs from its supply chain by combining its store purchasing across national frontiers in a new stage in the globalisation of its business.

The effort is part of plans by the world's largest retailer to increase the proportion of goods that it buys directly from manufacturers, rather than through third-party procurement companies or suppliers.

It also plans to expand initial combined purchasing of fresh fruit and vegetables for its stores in the US, Canada and Mexico, after an initial pilot test with apples that it says led to a 10 per cent reduction in purchasing costs.

Full article at http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/891c7878-f895-11de-beb8-00144feab49a.html

See also analysis by Jim Prevor in his "Perishable Pundit" commentaries on possible implications for the agricultural base:

Flaws In Wal-Mart's Produce-Procurement Thinking: Jim Prevor's Perishable Pundit, January 5, 2010

Wal-Mart's Global Food Sourcing Initiative Closes The Peterson Era And Threatens Sustainability Of Agricultural Base: Jim Prevor's Perishable Pundit, August 13, 2009