By George Anderson
Wal-Mart is out to clear up the perception that you need to be rich to be able to afford organic products and, to do that, it plans to double the number of skus it offers over the next several years.
DeDe Priest, senior vice president of dry grocery for Wal-Mart, told Reuters the company is not looking to turn itself into a health food store, but that the number of consumers buying organic goods makes it the right time for the retailer to give more attention and shelf space to these items.
The company is already the number one seller of organic milk in the U.S. and Ms. Priest, who took over her current job in December, "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 the Reuters report.
The goal behind Wal-Mart's strategy is simple, said Ms. Priest. "It's to grow our absolute sales."
Moderator's Comment: What impact will expanded organic food offerings have on Wal-Mart's business? What impact will Wal-Mart have on the organic foods market?
DeDe Priest told Reuters, "Our focus (on organics) is never really to grow our margin, it's to grow our absolute sales." - George Anderson - Moderator