Walmart Sows Wild Oats to Disrupt Organic Market

Well, well, well. Walmart is entering the organic market and aims to drive down prices to make healthier food available to low-income folks (like its employees). I say, “Bravo!” This move is giving me warm fuzzies.

Anyone who knows me is aware of my one-person boycott against Walmart and Sam’s Club, due to their inappropriate handling of an incident in which, I could have burned to death at a Sam’s Club gas pump. (They said I squeezed the handle, when I removed the nozzle. I asked to see the video, and they said it was against their policy.)

But, putting aside my grudge against the company, I am happy, deliriously happy, to see that Walmart will be offering organic food at a reasonable price. According to the Associated Press, “The world’s largest retailer and nation’s largest grocery seller said Thursday that it has teamed up with Wild Oats to sell a new line of organic foods, starting this month, that’s at least 25 percent cheaper than the national organic brands it carries and in line with the prices of its branded non-organic alternatives. Wild Oats helped pioneer the organic food trend in the late 1980s but has largely disappeared from store shelves since 2007.”

I’ve been happily paying a premium on organic food to support the market for years now, much the same as I supported alternative energy by buying two hybrid automobiles. I shop at my local co-op, and I know my grocery bill is higher than if I shopped at Wegmans. But, I’m not worried that Walmart will drive the other organic companies, or co-ops, out of business. Making organic food available to a wider market will increase awareness across the board, bring organic into the mainstream, increase demand, encourage new technology for smarter farming, and drive down overall organic prices (à la Henry Ford).

AP says, “Wild Oats’ 6-ounce can of tomato paste, for example, is priced at 58 cents, compared with 98 cents for a national-brand organic version. And a 32-ounce can of chicken broth under Wild Oats is priced at $1.98, compared with the $3.47 for a national-brand alternative, according to the discounter’s survey of 26 nationally branded organic products available at Walmart.com.”

What I found interesting is that the 100 new Wild Oats products will be added to the 1,600 organic products Walmart already carriers. Who knew that Walmart carried organic products? I didn’t, because I’m boycotting their stores. Will I start to shop there again, because they’re offering cheaper organic products? No. A boycott is a boycott. However, I am happy for the people who do like to shop at Walmart, and I think that, with price no longer a barrier, parents will be more likely to reach for the organic version when shopping to fill their children’s bellies.