Wal-Mart wants more organic food offerings

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. aims to be the mass-market provider of organic food, and will have doubled its organic offerings over the next couple of weeks, Wal-Mart's head of dry grocery told Reuters. DeDe Priest, who was promoted to senior vice president of dry grocery in December, said the retailer has no intention of becoming a health food store, but wants to make organic food accessible to all. The move comes as Wal-Mart, the world's biggest retailer, is bringing in more upscale merchandise in the hope of getting shoppers to buy more than just the basics. (Picture/Walmart)

Wal-Mart is the top U.S. grocery seller with some 100 million U.S. customers to its stores each week. The giant is also No. 1 in organic milk sales. It carries organic baby food, juice, produce and pasta sauce, but will be expanding its offerings to include products ranging from pickles to macaroni and cheese. The company will expand its organic produce and dairy selections as well as dry goods such as pasta and peanut butter. Wal-Mart has paid close attention to the small-but-growing organic market for several years. They now decided to make a move as studies show a majority of U.S. consumers buy at least some organic food.

Ms Priest declined to say what percentage of Wal-Mart's food offerings would be organic, but said the retailer wants to be the access point for organic foods at a value, and "knock out the myth that it's just for the rich." Priest met with CEOs from 15 of the top consumer products companies in her first week on the job to stress the importance of organics and press them to expand their offerings, according to Reuters UK.