Due to consumers demand for tractability in their meat, Walmart announced its entry into the beef industry, developing an end-to-end supply chain for Angus beef. To ensure supply of quality Angus beef and to meet what the retailer calls customer demand for a more transparent supply chain, Wal-Mart is working with partners, including Texas rancher Bob McClaren of Prime Pursuits.
According to the press release, a selection of Angus beef cuts like steaks and roasts from this supply chain will be sold in 500 Walmart 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.
To answer the customer’s demands, Wal-Mart is adding visibility into every step in the supply chain. They are working with suppliers to create an end-to-end Angus beef supply chain:
- Bob McClaren of 44 Farms and Prime Pursuits is helping source cattle raised on family farms and ranches.
- They are also working with Mc6 Cattle Feeders to feed them.
- Creekstone Farms will process the cattle at their facility, where more than 250 jobs will be created.
- FPL Foods will operate the case ready packing facility, where the meat gets packaged and sent to the stores, creating an additional 200 plus jobs.
“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 Bob McClaren of Prime Pursuits. “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.” said Hank McWhorter of Mc6 Cattle Feeders. “Mc6 is a family business that has been feeding and raising cattle on the same land in the Texas panhandle for four generations.”
This announcement comes one year after Wal-Mart took over a milk processing plant in Indiana, which put many local dairy farmers out of business.
