Progress

  • completed
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Products
Commitment Progress Update
We will develop a worldwide sustainable product index globally. Using the work of The Sustainability Consortium, we are delivering the Sustainability Index in more than 700 categories to buyers in the U.S., Sam’s Club and several international markets. We are developing a clear road map to continue global expansion.
By the end of 2017, we’ll buy 70 percent of the goods we sell in Walmart U.S. and Sam’s Club U.S. units only from suppliers who use the Sustainability Index to evaluate and share the sustainability of their products. As we continue to expand the Index to new categories, we are asking suppliers to use the tools to measure and report their sustainability performance.
Beginning in 2013, we’ll use the Index to influence the design of our U.S. private-brand products. We have started evaluating Index results in high-volume, private-brand categories to identify opportunities to drive improvements in product design.
Beginning in 2013, key global sourcing leaders will join our product buyers in Walmart U.S. and Sam’s Club who already have specific sustainability objectives tied to their annual evaluations. We worked with Global Sourcing leaders to establish priorities and goals for product sustainability.
Eliminate 20 million metric tons (MMT) of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from Walmart’s global supply chain by the end of 2015. Working with our suppliers and customers, we have eliminated more than 7.575 MMT of GHG emissions from our supply chain. We project our implemented and near-complete innovation initiatives will deliver more than a cumulative 18 MMT of GHG emissions by 2015. By managing a portfolio of projects and leveraging the Index to spur innovation and create accountability, we are confident that we are on track to achieve our goal.
Walmart will sell $1 billion in food sourced from 1 million small and medium-sized farmers in emerging markets by the end of 2015. In 2013, we undertook a mapping process to estimate the number of small and medium-sized farmers in the supply chains of Walmart private brands. Given this work, we estimate Walmart is sourcing $4 billion from 1.2 million to 1.4 million small and medium-sized farmers. We’ve focused our programmatic sourcing efforts in our produce purchasing, where we have the most direct relationship with farmers, and funded training programs for farmers in several other categories.
Walmart will provide training to 1 million farmers and farm workers in our food supply chain, of which we expect half will be women, in emerging markets by the end of 2015. By the end of 2013, Walmart and the Walmart Foundation had contributed to training 307,332 farmers and farm workers in emerging markets, of which 132,405 were women. In addition, the Walmart Foundation funded six projects in Africa and Asia in 2013, which will reach another 370,000 farmers, an estimated 258,000 of them being women.
We will raise the income of the small and medium-sized farmers we source from by 10 to 15 percent in emerging markets by the end of 2015. In China, we continue to work with the University of California at Davis and the Chinese Center for Agricultural Policy to conduct an income assessment of produce production bases that supply Walmart China and other retailers.
In the U.S., Walmart will double sales of locally sourced produce, accounting for 9 percent of all produce sold by the end of 2015 (2009 Baseline). Despite the unpredictability of weather patterns and their impact on crops, we remain on course to continue expanding our purchases of locally grown fruits and vegetables and achieving our goal of doubling our local purchases by 2015.
Walmart will require sustainable sourced palm oil in all of our private-brand products globally by the end of 2015. More than 20 percent of our global palm oil use supports sustainable growing. This includes GreenPalm certificates, Mass Balance and Segregated. Six of our international markets purchased GreenPalm certificates to cover all their 2012 palm usage. In 2013, we demonstrated an approach to support sustainable growing while achieving overall cost neutrality for the customer. This was executed in 27 percent of the U.S. private brands. We are assessing the feasibility of achieving the goal through this approach and will adjust strategy or tactics to close any gap.
Walmart will expand the already existing practice of Walmart Brazil of sourcing only beef that does not contribute to the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest to all of our companies worldwide by the end of 2015. In 2012, Walmart Brazil developed our Amazon Beef Risk Management Platform. In 2013, Walmart Brazil rolled out to suppliers and established supplier qualifications and continuous improvement plans. A platform has been developed to roll out the tool to all relevant Walmart markets.
Walmart plans to invest more than $1 billion in our perishable supply chain so that we deliver fresher, higher-quality food with a longer shelf life by the end of 2015. Through the end of 2012, we invested $535 million into our global fresh supply chain. The primary investment for fresh supply chain is in new or expanded distribution center capacity, with secondary investment in refrigerated trailers. During the second half of 2012, we opened a state-of-the-art distribution center in northern England, and more than $300 million was approved for new or expanded distribution centers in Chile, England, Japan, Mexico and the U.S.