I am interested in knowing something about the sourcing and the origin
of coffees sold at Wal-Mart.  The nearest Wal-Mart is far from where I
live so I cannot just go to the supermarket and look at the packs.

Does W-M buy and roast and grind and pack themselves - under a W-M label ?
Or do they buy final products from other companies - under which brand ?

Ideal if the answer has details on countries of origin of the coffees
and mentions possible certifications (organic, fair trade etc.) 
And ideal if the answer mentions some retail prices, but all of that is not a
must.

It is not a scientific answer with all details I am looking for. 
Just some basics that would be right for most of the coffee at W-M.

---

Request for Question Clarification by tutuzdad-ga on 26 Jul 2006 08:00 PDT

Wal Mart obtains its coffees from dozens of the 300 cooperatives in 23
countries across Latin America, Asia and Africa that are certified as
?Fair Trade? by TransFair USA (the only independent, third-party
certifier of Fair Trade products in the United States). These also
include dozens of Fair Trade licensed roasters and Fair Trade licensed
importers.

TRANSFAIR USA - Coffee Program
http://www.transfairusa.org/content/certification/coffee_program.php
http://www.transfairusa.org/pdfs/wrk_croptocup.pdf

You can view a comprehensive list of the various Company Profiles
here, some of which supply coffees to Wal Mart:
Producers: http://www.transfairusa.org/content/certification/producer_profiles.php

Is this what you're after?

Tutuzdad-ga

---

Clarification of Question by alsinger-ga on 27 Jul 2006 02:50 PDT

Dear Tutuzdad,
You are on the way but still not there.  
Fairtrade coffee makes up less than 1% of coffee in the world.  It
probably also makes up a very small portion of the coffee sold in W-M.
 Maybe 3% - just guessing.
The remaining 97% (?) is still to be answered.  
Who are the suppliers/roasters/brands/labels - to the extent W-M is
not themselves importers and roasters ?
This Q could possibly also be answered by someone who is customer in
W-M and who would take ten minutes to take notes of the leading
brands/labels at the coffee shelves.
Alsinger.
27 July.

---

Request for Question Clarification by czh-ga on 28 Jul 2006 02:54 PDT

Hello alsinger-ga,

This is a tough question. Wal-Mart has incredible power in the market
place and it deals with a variety of suppliers all over the world. It
sells coffee under its own store brands as well as from big and small
suppliers. It's biggest seller is Folger's from Proctor & Gamble, but
it also sells specialty coffees to specific market segments. Here are
some brief clips to show you some examples of Wal-Mart's coffee
suppliers.

It seems that finding more detailed information would take much more
effort than is appropriate for a question at your price. Will you
accept these reports as a satisfactory answer?

I look forward to your clarification.

~ czh ~


http://www.mindfully.org/Industry/2005/Wal-Mart-Hispanic31may05.htm
Wal-Mart's Hispanic Outreach

Wal-Mart's vaunted inventory-tracking system and data-mining
capabilities allow it to quickly monitor changes in customer-buying
patterns on a store-by-store basis. In several of its South Florida
stores, where the population is heavily Cuban, for instance, Cafe
Bustelo and Pilon coffee brands outsell Procter & Gamble Co.'s
Folgers, Wal-Mart's best-selling coffee overall.

==

http://www.thechannelinsider.com/article/GXS+Links+Coffee+Firm+To+Customers/147188_1.aspx
GXS Links Coffee Firm To Customers

When Eight O'Clock Coffee spun out from The Great Atlantic & Pacific
Tea Company Inc. it found itself with pressing e-commerce demands and
limited resources to meet them.

The company completed its split with the grocer - better known as A&P
- in late 2003. Last year, another challenge surfaced: the need to
meet Wal-Mart's requirement for business-to-business communication
using the AS2 data transport specification.

==

http://www.privatelabelmag.com/pdf/pli_summer_2006/Wal-MartsGermanEndeavour.cfm
Wal-Mart?s German Endeavour

Out of the two large umbrella brands, Smart Price and Great Value,
Smart Price is clearly the more visible. ... For example, in hot
drinks all ground coffee was offered under Smart Price, replicating
the price spectrum that was common during the time of storechecks with
almost all private label ranges. Thus Schonkaffee and decaffeinated
coffee were ?3.29, Milde Bohne ?2.99 and Extra ?2.79. The Smart Price
also included coffee pods, the most modern format of coffee, which one
could have expected within Great Value rather than Smart Price.
Meanwhile, standard instant coffee was sold under Great Value, but
flavoured instant coffee under Smart Price. Varieties included
Chocolate, Vanilla, Original and Unsweetened, all ?1.59 for 200g. Tea
was available both in Smart Price and Great Value. Smart Price
varieties (?0.45 for 25 bags) included rosehip, fruit, camomile and
peppermint, while Great Value varieties were significantly more
expensive (?1.44 for 20 bags) with varieties including fennel and
green tea. Smart Price teas were positioned as a block, while Great
Value teas were positioned among next to branded products according to
flavour.

==

http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:5rufUCFX46gJ:adage.com/lna06/article%3Farticle_id%3D110119+walmart+coffee+brands+OR+%22best+seller%22&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=11
Coffee Advertising: Home Coffees Show Strong Gains

Ground brands up
The ground coffee segment, accounting for three-quarters of the $2.45
billion market for ground, decaf ground and whole bean, grew 15.6% in
dollars in food, drug and mass outlets excluding Wal-Mart for the 52
weeks ended April 16, according to Information Resources, Inc.

---

Clarification of Question by alsinger-ga on 30 Jul 2006 23:39 PDT

Dear czh,
Thanks for your efforts.  
You may transfer your references from Comments to Answer.  
Alsinger

Hello alsinger-ga,

Thank you for accepting the information I?ve provided as your answer.
As I said earlier, this is a tough question and hard numbers and
detailed statistics are hard to find because they?re closely held in
expensive market research reports. This industry is very competitive
and the landscape is changing so information is only available at a
premium rate.

http://www.beveragemarketing.com/
2004 Coffee in the U.S. (December 2004) 
CD: $4,695 (Single User Only) 
Book: $4,395 
Both: $4,995 

The entire U.S. coffee market ? wet and dry. Provides detailed
analysis of the U.S. coffee market with data on leading companies and
brands, packaging, channels of distribution, regional markets,
imports, pricing, demographics, advertising, five-year growth
projections and more. More than 150 pages, with extensive text,
charts, tables and graphs.

==

http://www.supermarketnews.com/xref.cfm?&ID=7935&xref=Coffee
War Brewing Between Ready-to-Drink, Packaged Coffee Makers 

NEW YORK (May 4, 2006) -- Coffee consumed away from home is capturing
the lion's share of total coffee spending, according to a new report
from Datamonitor. Last year, ready-to-drink coffee enjoyed outside of
the home accounted for nearly 68% of sales, up from 58% in 2000,
whereas the at-home packaged coffee category declined from 42% of the
total market in 2000 to 32% in 2005. The trend is expected to
continue. In addition to the big prepared coffee vendors, Starbucks
and Dunkin' Donuts, many quick-service restaurants are targeting the
market with new premium coffee products. At the same time,
single-serve coffee makers for use in the home have not performed as
well in the United States, the report found. Total coffee product
sales reached $26.2 billion last year, and is projected to grow over
30% to $34.4 billion in 2010, according to Datamonitor's "U.S. Coffee
Industry Review 2006."


Finding information about Wal-Mart?s share of the coffee market has
been difficult and finding specific information about who are
Wal-Mart?s suppliers is even tougher. The selection of articles I?ve
provided will give you a brief overview of the Wal-Mart?s approach to
coffee marketing and their coffee suppliers.

Thanks again for accepting my answer.

All the best.

~ czh ~


http://www.mindfully.org/Industry/2005/Wal-Mart-Hispanic31may05.htm
Wal-Mart's Hispanic Outreach

Wal-Mart's vaunted inventory-tracking system and data-mining
capabilities allow it to quickly monitor changes in customer-buying
patterns on a store-by-store basis. In several of its South Florida
stores, where the population is heavily Cuban, for instance, Cafe
Bustelo and Pilon coffee brands outsell Procter & Gamble Co.'s
Folgers, Wal-Mart's best-selling coffee overall.

==

http://www.thechannelinsider.com/article/GXS+Links+Coffee+Firm+To+Customers/147188_1.aspx
GXS Links Coffee Firm To Customers

When Eight O'Clock Coffee spun out from The Great Atlantic & Pacific
Tea Company Inc. it found itself with pressing e-commerce demands and
limited resources to meet them.

The company completed its split with the grocer - better known as A&P
- in late 2003. Last year, another challenge surfaced: the need to
meet Wal-Mart's requirement for business-to-business communication
using the AS2 data transport specification.

==

http://www.privatelabelmag.com/pdf/pli_summer_2006/Wal-MartsGermanEndeavour.cfm
Wal-Mart?s German Endeavour

Out of the two large umbrella brands, Smart Price and Great Value,
Smart Price is clearly the more visible. ... For example, in hot
drinks all ground coffee was offered under Smart Price, replicating
the price spectrum that was common during the time of storechecks with
almost all private label ranges. Thus Schonkaffee and decaffeinated
coffee were ?3.29, Milde Bohne ?2.99 and Extra ?2.79. The Smart Price
also included coffee pods, the most modern format of coffee, which one
could have expected within Great Value rather than Smart Price.
Meanwhile, standard instant coffee was sold under Great Value, but
flavoured instant coffee under Smart Price. Varieties included
Chocolate, Vanilla, Original and Unsweetened, all ?1.59 for 200g. Tea
was available both in Smart Price and Great Value. Smart Price
varieties (?0.45 for 25 bags) included rosehip, fruit, camomile and
peppermint, while Great Value varieties were significantly more
expensive (?1.44 for 20 bags) with varieties including fennel and
green tea. Smart Price teas were positioned as a block, while Great
Value teas were positioned among next to branded products according to
flavour.

==

http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:5rufUCFX46gJ:adage.com/lna06/article%3Farticle_id%3D110119+walmart+coffee+brands+OR+%22best+seller%22&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=11
Coffee Advertising: Home Coffees Show Strong Gains

Ground brands up
The ground coffee segment, accounting for three-quarters of the $2.45
billion market for ground, decaf ground and whole bean, grew 15.6% in
dollars in food, drug and mass outlets excluding Wal-Mart for the 52
weeks ended April 16, according to Information Resources, Inc.


http://www.organicconsumers.org/2006/article_809.cfm
Wal-Mart's Attempt to Sell the 'Cheapest Fair Trade Coffee in America'
Generates Skepticism
Change brewing at Wal-Mart? 
Giant retailer turns to fair-trade coffee 
Washington Post, June 18, 2006 



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