Walmart Inc. is getting into the beef business.
The nation’s biggest grocer has partnered with a Texas cattle rancher and other industry-related businesses to provide a steady supply of no-hormone-added Angus beef to 500 of its U.S. stores beginning later this year.
The move comes two years after Walmart upgraded its steaks and roasts to higher-quality Angus, part of a broader push to improve the quality of its fresh foods amid intensifying competition in the $840 billion grocery sector.
Tyson Foods Inc. and Cargill Inc. currently provide Walmart with most of its beef, and will continue to do so. But Scott Neal, who runs Walmart’s meat business, said the retailer also wanted to form its own supply partnership in response to customer demands to know more about who actually grows the food found in supermarket aisles and where it comes from. The company estimates the effort will trim costs and create about 450 jobs.
To read the rest of the story, please go to: Bloomberg
