Connect with:
Friday / February 21. 2025

logo
mobile-logo
HomePosts Tagged "Walmart"
Collaborations, R&D, Start ups, Supply Chain

Following the successful Walmart Growth Summit in India, KBCols Sciences, GreenPod, and Cropin have announced plans to pilot scalable sourcing technology for Walmart’s U.S. market in 2025

The largest omnichannel retailer in the world, Walmart, announced significant partnerships with startups in India to serve the company’s sourcing and supply chain activities in the United States. Three startups have been chosen for trial programs: Bengaluru-based Cropin, Chennai-based GreenPod Labs, and Pune-based KBCols Sciences. Last year, these businesses attended the Walmart Growth Summit.

Each company’s solutions will support large-scale innovation throughout Walmart’s supply chains. In order to lessen the impact on the environment, the pilot programs will test solutions that increase the availability of better and fresher products for Walmart customers in the United States and abroad, decrease product waste, and develop sustainable substitutes for intermediate products used in manufacturing processes like synthetic textile dyes.

Based in Pune, India, KBCols Sciences produces non-GMO natural textile dyes by fermenting microorganisms from agricultural waste all throughout the country. By using less water and energy during the dying process, these natural dyes can be applied to a variety of textiles, facilitating more efficient manufacturing. This invention opens the door for more regenerative techniques in mass-produced apparel by providing a more environmentally friendly substitute for synthetic dyes. Through testing on jersey cotton and woven fabrics, the pilot will assess the qualities of KBCol’s dyes.

GreenPod Labs, a Chennai-based startup, creates tiny sachets of plant extracts that trigger fruits’ and vegetables’ natural defensive systems, slowing down ripening and simulating the condition while still on the vine, therefore extending the freshness of natural produce. Produce can remain fresher for longer because to the supply chain’s extended travel times. Walmart may be able to source from new regions thanks to this innovation, which could also make transportation more affordable and enhance customer quality and freshness. Walmart will test GreenPod sachets in partnership with UC Davis to determine how well they work.

An AI-driven AgTech platform that offers useful insights on crop yields, improving productivity, optimizing resource use, and guaranteeing consistent harvest quality is provided by Bengaluru, India-based Cropin. To better understand crop health, production projections, and the timing of seasonal transitions, the pilot will test this technology on produce supply networks. Walmart may be able to obtain perishable goods more efficiently with improved data accuracy, which might increase customer availability and quality while cutting waste. This pilot program, which is being launched in partnership with Walmart Global Tech’s Sparkubate program, will enable start-up innovators to expand their concepts and address the most important retail concerns.

Part of a global series, the Walmart Growth Summit in India aims to link innovators, suppliers, and entrepreneurs with Walmart’s vast supply chain network. These summits, which take place in nations like Mexico, Chile, and India, give attendees a stage on which to showcase innovations and technology that complement Walmart’s emphasis on efficiency, sustainability, and creativity. Entrepreneurs can present their goods and look at ways to grow within Walmart’s worldwide supply chain through one-on-one pitch sessions and informative talks.

These most recent pilot projects expand on a portfolio of innovative projects that includes partnerships with Rubi Laboratories, Agritask, and unspun. Pilots for sourcing innovation are intended to improve resource efficiency, assist Walmart in making better sourcing decisions, and promote quantifiable advancements in the direction of a more robust global supply chain.

Following the successful Walmart Growth Summit in

Company News, Sustainability, World

The collaboration will seek to support farmers in practices that aim to improve soil health, water quality and carbon sequestration across their shared value chain

General Mills, Walmart and Sam’s Club announced a collaboration to help accelerate the adoption of regenerative agriculture on 600,000 acres in the U.S. by 2030. This represents the approximate number of acres General Mills engages to source key ingredients for its products sold through Walmart and Sam’s Club. Initial projects will be supported through grants administered by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) and seek to advance regenerative agriculture outcomes across a variety of crops, including wheat, in the Northern and Southern Great Plains. 

“Through this partnership, we will work hand-in-hand with Walmart and Sam’s Club to help regenerate the acres of land in the key regions where we source ingredients for our shared business,” said Jon Nudi, Group President, North America Retail at General Mills. “We are excited by the opportunity to bring our products, including Pillsbury refrigerated dough and Blue Buffalo pet food and treats, to Walmart shelves more sustainably, with the help of our merchants and farmer partners.” 

General Mills, Walmart and Sam’s Club share a belief that regenerative agriculture can help address climate change and create positive outcomes for both people and our planet. Recognizing their shared footprint within the industry, this collaboration exemplifies both companies’ intention to build on organizational commitments and leverage collaboration to help spur industry-wide change. Efforts will target seven U.S. states in the Northern and Southern Great Plains including North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado and Minnesota, home of General Mills’ global headquarters.

Through the program, NFWF will provide financial assistance to local grantee organizations, building out the education and coaching resources needed to help accelerate regenerative agriculture. The objective is twofold: support the transition to regenerative agriculture production in the U.S. through systems change and elevate the potential for more resilient yields for farmers through efforts that will help improve soil health, watersheds, biodiversity, climate change and farmer economic resilience. 

“We’re committing to making the everyday choice the more sustainable choice for consumers,” said John Laney, Executive Vice President of food at Walmart U.S. “This collaboration is an example of how we are working across our value chain on intentional interventions to help advance regenerative agriculture and ensure surety of supply for these essential food products for the long term.”

The collaboration will seek to support farmers

Agrotech, Company News, North America, Sustainability

The collaboration between PepsiCo and Walmart offers a voluntary, flexible approach to regenerative agriculture

PepsiCo and Walmart announced a 7-year collaboration to pursue $120 million worth of investments focused on supporting U.S. and Canadian farmers in their pursuit to improve soil health and water quality. By establishing and scaling financial, agronomic and social programs, it aims to enable and accelerate the adoption of regenerative agriculture practices on more than 2 million acres of farmland and deliver approximately 4 million metric tons of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions and removals by 2030 – roughly equivalent to the amount of electricity needed to power 778,300 homes for one year1. 

Commenting on the voluntary adoption of regenerative agriculture practices, Jeff Huffman, Owner & Operator of Island Farms LLC in Maxwell, Neb., said, “From my perspective, embracing regenerative agriculture is essential. It’s good for farmers, not only because it’s beneficial to the environment and our food quality, but also for the profitability of our businesses. If you use less fertiliser and you grow a bigger crop, or if you use less water and can still grow the same size of the crop, it strengthens your farm in a way that benefits the bottom line and our environment for generations to come.”

PepsiCo’s and Walmart’s businesses are dependent on farmers to grow ingredients that are used to make delicious products that consumers enjoy every day. With a supply chain for the two companies that stretches across North America and involves a large volume of critical crops – including potatoes, oats, corn, wheat, soybean and rice – sustainability will look different from commodity to commodity, region to region, and even farm to farm. The collaboration between PepsiCo and Walmart offers a voluntary, flexible approach to regenerative agriculture that gives farmers a seat at the table, recognises the diversity of agriculture and that one size does not fit all.

“At Walmart, our sustainability strategy is built to make the everyday choice the sustainable choice for our customers. This collaboration with PepsiCo is a great example of how we are prioritising the expansion of regenerative agricultural practices among farmers across North America so that we can continue to make quality products affordable and accessible for customers. This collaboration aims to help elevate farmer livelihoods, engage them on how to more sustainably manage soil health, increase yields and create a model that others can mimic across other product categories, including encouraging additional investments in regenerative agriculture by other brands,” said Jane Ewing, Senior Vice President for sustainability at Walmart.

The collaboration between PepsiCo and Walmart offers

Agro Universities, AgroPolicy, Agrotech

The unit creates new livelihoods and better market access opportunities through value-added groundnut and millet to smallholder farmers in Anantapur

Kakani Govardhan Reddy, Minister for Agriculture & Cooperation, Marketing, Food Processing, Government of Andhra Pradesh, India, inaugurated a secondary processing unit (SPU) set up by ICRISAT-Walmart in Mudulapuram village. The unit creates new livelihoods and better market access opportunities through value-added groundnut, millet, and other nutritious products.

The SPU is approved by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and is expected to benefit over 6,000 smallholder farmers in Anantapur district. The facility which has a built-up area of 1,000 square meters, is operated by the women-led Rythu Nestham Food Producer Company Ltd (RNFPCL).

RNFPCL was established with support from ICRISAT and the Accion Fraterna Ecology Centre (AFEC) and includes farmers from nine FPOs across eight sub-districts (mandals) of Anantapur district. The facility is equipped with five processing lines, which will produce highly nutritious millet- and pulse-based ready-to-cook and ready-to-eat formulations such as traditional khichdi and upma mixes, high oleic groundnut products comprising of nutrition bars (chikki), cookies, snacks and savories, and healthy cold pressed groundnut oil.

“Our government’s priority is to make agriculture more viable and profitable for farming communities. This women-led food processing unit will boost sustainable farming and market access for local agricultural communities, provide employment to women and youth and create new opportunities for community-managed industry through the development of more food processing units.

“We congratulate Walmart Foundation, Flipkart, ICRISAT and AFEC on this initiative, and look forward to more such collaborations in the future,” said Govardhan Reddy.

“The entire infrastructure of the unit will ensure improved livelihoods and better opportunities for smallholder farmers. The launch of this SPU in the district will bring synergy between agriculture and the food processing industry,” said S Nagalakshmi, IAS, Collector and District Magistrate Anantapur, Government of Andhra Pradesh.

The unit creates new livelihoods and better