WalMart sez: Our produce will be cheap, but not by paying farmers less. So how does that square with THIS: http://trunc.it/dzjnh
Dollar stores are “eating [WalMart’s] lunch,” say WM execs, so they are pushing suppliers to keep costs down, according to this NYPost piece.
Notice the absence of any talk about keeping prices down by centralizing logistics and distribution, which is important given that the company’s announcement last week’ that its produce will be cheaper, but not by “asking the farmers to accept less for their crops,” as WM executive Leslie Dach told the New York Times’ Sheryl Gay Stolberg.
Interestingly, food has been of growing interest to dollar stores in recent years. In 2009, Family Dollar added capacity for perishables to its stores. That trend was driven by the increasing rate of families on food stamps, according to Reuters.
Given that WalMart is now singling out dollar stores as chief competitors, it looks like Family Dollar’s strategy may have worked.
