EXCLUSIVE: Walmart's New Campaign Gives Farmers a Voice
Walmart’s recently introduced American Farmers campaign was created with a particular aim in mind: to make sure the mega-retailer’s many customers know about the breadth of its produce offering.
“I saw that we had a perception issue in produce,” Evan Gaetano, manager of site merchandising-grocery e-commerce at Walmart and one of the architects of the campaign, exclusively told Progressive Grocer. “Customers had no idea that Walmart sources from 10,000 farms across America. We weren’t telling that powerful story, especially since customers today want to know exactly where their food is coming from.”
To remedy this situation, Walmart launched the American Farmers campaign on Walmart.com, which “highlights our growers and puts them front and center on our shoppable pages,” noted Gaetano. “This is the first time Walmart has ever featured growers/farmers on our website or partnered with produce influencers. I traveled out to Washington [state] to meet with ‘America’s Apple Queen,’ Kait Thornton, and other growers to help tell their story. The result has been extraordinary, and customers are really resonating with the message. We’ve featured Thornton, Sarah Frey, Kyle Mathison and Austin Allred. We are now building out a pipeline of American growers to feature every month for every peak season and to continue to highlight the incredible stories of our growers.”
[RELATED: Inside Walmart’s ‘Adaptive Retail’ Era]
A particular point of pride for Gaetano is that “this is the first time a grocery retailer has ever done this online! Other grocers have done in-store displays, but never have made farmer stories shoppable. It’s an amazing opportunity to connect our customers with growers across America who take great pride in what they do. We saw that our customers wanted to see who is supplying their food as well as where. They want to see the farm as well as the farmer. We’re also rolling these stories out to meat and seafood, and will be featuring female-owned ranches and fishing boats, to highlight their stories.”
“Walmart, being one of the biggest retailers in the country, taking a stand in telling the story of American farmers is deeply impactful,” said Thornton, the aforementioned “Apple Queen,” from Tonasket, Wash. “There are still a lot of small family farms that keep our nation fed. And even the large farms are still family-run and have grown due to them being fourth-, fifth- and sixth-generation operations! Education and attention around our food sources is needed more than ever. I am excited for my family’s story to be told!”
“This is much more than a marketing campaign,” asserted Frey, a pumpkin and watermelon grower in Keenes, Ill. “It helps to shed light on what it takes to grow fresh produce in the United States and how critical American farmers are to our national food supply. It’s no secret that Walmart has featured my story and the growth of Frey Farms previously when highlighting their work around sourcing local American-grown produce, as well as supporting woman-owned, diverse businesses. I’m proud to be a 30-plus-year supplier partner and continually share with media outlets and audiences. Walmart has been supporting local, small family businesses since before it was cool. The more we shed light on American-grown farmers and our stories, the more we can protect our American farmers while educating consumers of the importance of fresh American-grown produce. There has never been a more important time than now to share positive, impactful and honest supplier stories with U.S consumers.”
Each week, about 240 million customers and members visit Walmart’s approximately 10,500 stores and numerous e-commerce websites in 19 countries. The Bentonville, Ark.-based company employs approximately 2.1 million associates worldwide. 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.
