EXCLUSIVE: Inside Walmart’s Open Call
Walmart may be the country’s biggest retailer, but part of its success comes from thinking small. Case in point: Walmart’s annual pitch competition for small U.S. suppliers.
On Sept. 24 and 25, Walmart will spotlight hundreds of those small and medium-sized suppliers at its 11th annual Open Call event, which enables entrepreneurs to meet in person with Walmart and/or Sam’s Club merchants in a bid to get their product on shelf. In 2023, more than 700 suppliers attended the program at Walmart’s headquarters to pitch more than 1,000 products that are made, grown, or assembled in the U.S.
As the finalists in this year’s contest strive to secure what the company refers to as a “golden ticket” to get their products into Walmart’s physical and online stores, the retailer is gearing up for another big event. Progressive Grocer recently talked with Jason Fremstad, SVP of supplier development, sourcing at Walmart, about how Open Call has become a cornerstone of the retailer’s commitment to providing opportunities to makers and their larger communities.
Progressive Grocer: How has this program become an important part of Walmart’s supply chain and business model?
Jason Fremstad: This is our 11th year, and we’ve given more than 9,000 opportunities to suppliers over the years. Open Call is our signature sourcing event of the year and it is in support of our 10-year, $350 billion U.S. manufacturing initiative. We want to be an accelerator to invest in U.S. manufacturing and see jobs created. We estimate that if we hit our goal, there will be around 750,000 jobs created.
PG: How is this a passion project for the company and for the entrepreneurs?
JF: It really highlights the best of merchandising. We get to meet with entrepreneurs who are truly passionate about their items and they believe they have something our customers will love.
For us, everything we do is customer-centric and we seek to find the next great items for customers. If we find that great opportunity, another cool part is being able to provide a customer solution.
PG: You help fulfill the American Dream.
JF: We have to be thoughtful, too, about it. When we talk to suppliers, we want to make sure why customers will love it, why the item is great. And if our merchants choose to give someone a golden ticket and put them on the path to being at Walmart, we want the suppliers to be realistic on what and how they can do that. If they grow with us, we end up becoming better because they are becoming better.
PG: How has this program evolved?
JF: The fact that this program has made it 11 years is impressive. Our teams have done a lot of work on opening the doors as wide as we can. This is an open call – people can apply to come to the competition and we go through a vetting process to make sure that we are getting the right partners in their journey.
Every year, we work to make sure that when suppliers come to our event that there is something they are leaving with – that they’ve learned something about merchandising, about Walmart – and that they have feedback that is valuable to them.
We started food-heavy in the early days and the food category is still massive, but beyond it, we have more items in general merchandise, health and other consumables. This year we have added an export program, where suppliers can sell items that could work in Walmart Canada or Walmart Mexico.
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PG: What are some other elements of this initiative that are unique?
JF: We have a fly-in event in Washington, D.C. This year, 13 suppliers came with us, 12 of whom were previous gold ticket winners. We host them in our office and have different events for them. We had a Congressman, for example, talk to them about the importance of American-made products, and we also bring them to Capitol Hill. They get to meet their state reps and talk to them about Open Call and how they work with Walmart. We want the representatives to know that they have a success story in their district.
Also, at Open Call event in September, we bring past golden ticket winners in and do things like fireside chats and a parking lot event, where the past winners who are now suppliers provide samples and talk to current entrepreneurs in the pitch competition. There is a lot of pride in that group of golden ticket winners – they support each other and are really helpful in telling the story.
PG: This is also a great opportunity to highlight domestically-made offerings.
JF: We know that 85% of our customers want U.S.-made goods in our store. We try to make sure than two-thirds of our spend in the U.S. is on items that are made here and are trying to facilitate more suppliers and more items, going back to being customer-centric.
Each week, approximately 255 million customers and members visit Walmart’s more than 10,500 stores and numerous e-commerce websites in 19 countries. With fiscal year 2024 revenue of $648 billion, the retailer employs approximately 2.1 million associates worldwide. Bentonville, Ark.-based Walmart U.S. is No. 1 on Progressive Grocer’s 2024 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America. PG also named Walmart one of its Retailers of the Century.
