Flipple Inventor Enters Walmart Competition
Linda Lewis, the Galesburg entrepreneur behind the Flipple line of baby products, will be competing in the Get on the Shelf contest recently announced by Walmart.
The online competition, set up similar to the popular American Idol television show, will accept video entries of entrepreneurs pitching their products until Wednesday. Online voting will then take place March 7 through April 4, at which point Walmart will name 10 finalists. Three finalists will then be announced at the end of April. All voting will occur at http://getontheshelf.com.
NAFE Names Its ‘Top 50 Companies For Executive Women’
The National Association for Female Executives on Wednesday released its list of the “Top 50 Companies for Executive Women.” General Mills, Johnson & Johnson and Procter & Gamble were all listed in the top 10 on that list. Other notable supplier and retail companies included Abbott, AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Cardinal Health, Colgate-Palmolive, Eli Lilly, Kraft Foods, Merck and Walmart. “The NAFE Top 50 Companies are major employers that are committed to hiring, retaining and promoting executive women,” stated Carol Evans, president of Working Mother Media and CEO of NAFE. “They represent a cross-section of companies that go way beyond lip service in helping succeed. Almost 7-out-of-10 companies require their managers to receive training on how to hire, advance or manage women. Manager accountability is the main ingredient for success.”
A Diet Pyramid for African Americans Created by Boston Nutrition Group
It may be controversial to suggest that African Americans need a food pyramid tailor-made for them, but then again, this group has experienced the greatest surge in obesity and related illnesses such as heart disease and diabetes. Getting back to home-cooked basic dishes — based on staples from the American South, Caribbean, South America, and, yes, Africa — was the thought behind the new African heritage diet pyramid created by Oldways, a nonprofit nutrition education organization based in Boston. Just like Oldways’ Mediterranean diet pyramid and the federal government’s My Plate, the African diet pyramid focuses on fruits and vegetables — with greens including collard, mustard, and kale taking the most prominent spot at the base of the pyramid, which means they should be eaten at every meal. Fruits such as papayas, bananas, and watermelon, and root vegetables such as sweet potatoes and carrots are directly above and should also be eaten in plentiful amounts. Yesterday, Oldways announced that it received a $100,000 grant from the Walmart Foundation to get the word out about the new pyramid via supermarket tours, cooking classes, and nutrition lectures to be held in Boston and elsewhere.
Read more at Boston.com
The Wal-Mart Foundation Donates $9.5 Million to Promote Minority Healthy Eating
On Monday, the Wal-Mart Foundation donated $9.5 million in grants to organizations with a shared mission of promoting healthy eating habits. The funding will go toward nutrition education programs and will provide classes focused on cooking and shopping for healthier foods on a budget. A little over a year ago, the company, in conjunction with First Lady Michelle Obama, announced an initiative to provide customers with healthier and more affordable food choices.
To Promote Healthier Food Choices, Walmart Adds Labels
As part of its promise last year to improve the nutritional quality of the food it sells, Walmart said on Tuesday that it had devised standards to determine what is healthy and would label the foods that meet those standards. The new label, bright green with the words Great for You, will first appear on the retailer’s own Great Value and Marketside food items this spring, as well as on signs around fresh fruits and vegetable displays. But Walmart executives said the company planned to allow other brands to use the label without paying any licensing fee on products that meet the criteria. ”This is not meant to lecture our customers,” Leslie A. Dach, Walmart’s executive vice president for corporate affairs, said in a telephone interview. ”They can buy a dessert when they want to. But when they want to buy a cracker, we can help them steer them to a healthier cracker if that’s what they’re looking for.”
Sam’s Club Gets Down to Heart of the Matter With Free Screenings
In honor of American Heart Month, Sam’s Club announced it will be hosting free heart health screenings on Feb. 11 at all locations with a pharmacy. From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., members and guests can receive total cholesterol, HDL, glucose, body mass index and blood-pressure tests for. During the screenings, Sam’s Club pharmacies also will offer free samples of related items, the company said. Tests are limited to the first 100 participants at each club location. Cholesterol and glucose testing not available in Tennessee, Maryland and Hawaii; cholesterol testing is not available in New Jersey; and glucose testing not available in Pennsylvania.
Wal-Mart Plans Simple Label to Identify Healthier Foods
Wal-Mart is unveiling a simple icon that it says will help consumers make a snap decision about whether a food is healthy, without delving into the nitty-gritty of the nutrition label. The move by the nation’s biggest retailer to label some food products as “Great For You,” being unveiled Tuesday, could be a significant development in the fight against obesity because of the company’s enormous influence in the marketplace, over both consumers and food vendors eager to sell into the Wal-Mart supply chain. There have been fumbles in the past. In 2009, major food makers backed off a plan to label foods as “smart choices” after the Food and Drug Administration, which has been working on a standard system for such logos, noted that many competing nutrition symbols could be confusing. At the time, some food makers were criticized for trying to market items such as mayonnaise and sugary cereals as “smart choices.”
Walmart To Highlight Healthy Foods
Walmart is responding to rising demand for healthy food in the US by joining a growing list of food makers and grocers which are using specific labels to highlight products they deem to be good for consumers. The world’s biggest retailer by sales said the initiative would give mothers a simple and reliable way of identifying healthy food, but critics of similar moves by food makers and industry groups have complained that they are unscientific and confusing. The initiative was endorsed by Michelle Obama, the first lady, who is leading a US government drive to fight childhood obesity, and backed Walmart when it launched a broader healthy eating campaign last year. Walmart has turned to health initiatives to burnish its reputation and offset the effect of negative publicity about its impact on workers, suppliers, small retailers and local communities, which has created political obstacles to its expansion into US big cities.
Walmart Jumps to Top of Green Power Users List
The Environmental Protection Agency puts out a green power list every few months. It ranks companies by how much clean energy they use: Wind, solar, biofuel, what-have-you. And in the latest list, a new name broke into the top three: Walmart. It was way down in 15th place just a few months ago. From the Marketplace Sustainability Desk, Eve Troeh reports. Eve Troeh: The EPA lists of top renewable energy users as part of its Green Power Partnership. Blain Collison directs the project. He says it’s exciting to see who lands on top. But no internal bets. Blain Collison: There would certainly be no betting in a federal workplace. But I really enjoy watching the lists move. They don’t move all that much. Intel has been number one for green energy the past few years. But Walmart did just knock Whole Foods down a notch. Last quarter, only 8 percent of Walmart’s electricity came from renewable sources. Three months later, it’s up to 28 percent.
Walmart Rockets from 15th to Third in EPA Green Power Rankings
Walmart has shot to third place on the EPA’s rankings of the country’s top green power purchasers, from 15th place just last quarter. The Green Power Partnership ranking, for the retailer’s Texas and California facilities alone, pushes Whole Foods down to fourth place. According to the EPA’s data, Walmart’s facilities in the two states use 872,382,088 kWh of green power a year, or 28 percent of their total electricity use. These Walmart facilities also rank second among retailers, second among on-site green power generators and third among Fortune 500 companies on the EPA’s lists.
Walmart Expanding in Chicago
After an eight-year battle Alderman Howard Brookins, Jr. is finally able to celebrate his efforts to bring a Super Walmart store to his South Side ward. And the retailer took a monumental step in announcing it changed its employment policies and will hire ex-felons. Officials said this move gives everyone an opportunity to apply to work there. The Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer opened its first super store on the South Side Wednesday in the West Chatham community. “I cannot tell you how good it feels to finally see this store open and filled with customers,” said Brookins, whose 21st ward includes the store’s location at 8301 S. Holland Road. “And I want to thank the black press for sticking with this story for eight years. This is a story worth telling and a battle I would do all over again.”
Walmart DC Business of the Year
The Sauk Valley Area Chamber of Commerce looked back at its 100-year history and celebrated the good works of many Thursday at its annual awards and dinner banquet. Chamber Executive Director Kim Ewoldsen presented its Business of the Year award to the Walmart Distribution Center for its work to alleviate area hunger. The DC has participated in the Let’s Feed Our Children free summer lunch program and the YMCA’s breakfast program for children, as well as provided food for cookouts at area senior centers. Its workers have volunteered more than 3,200 hours with local nonprofits, and teamed with Frary Lumber to build a ramp for two elderly women who didn’t have the means to build it themselves, Ewoldsen said.
Wal-Mart Opening Chatham Supercenter
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is opening its long-anticipated supercenter in Chatham today, the culmination of a seven-year battle to establish a store on the former steel site. The 157,000-square foot store is the Bentonville, Ark.-based discount chain’s second supercenter in the city. A supercenter is a large format store that combines general merchandise with a grocer.
Walmart Holds ‘Idol’ Style Contest for Small Businesses
Zombie repellant might not be something you expect to find on the shelf at Walmart. Or, for that matter, puppy shoes. But a public relations-savvy contest that the nation’s largest retailer announced last week could result in one of these off-beat products landing on Walmart shelves before year’s end. For Walmart, it’s all about garnering publicity and social-media hits. But for the winner of the contest, it’s a chance to go from a virtual unknown to a distinguished product sold with roughly 150,000 others at more than 3,800 Walmart stores nationally. Walmart dubbed its contest the “Get on the Shelf” program — an American Idol-style competition for small businesses. Two rounds of online voting will determine three winners, all of which will be sold online, with the grand prize winner gaining a spot in select stores. Giving shoppers a say in the company’s offerings is crucial to connecting with them, says Chris Bolte, vice president of @WalmartLabs — the social-media and e-commerce team that created the contest. “You always want to stay closely tuned to what your customers are looking for,” Bolte says. “It’s really about getting products on the shelves that we haven’t seen.”
Chatham Walmart Opening
Walmart will open its second Chicago supercenter Wednesday — bringing fresh fruits and vegetables and jobs to the South Side’s Chatham neighborhood — eight years after an infamous City Council battle. The long-awaited Walmart will have 157,000 square feet of space, including a “full grocery and a full offering of general merchandise,” according to company spokesman Steven Restivo. Roughly 75 percent of the 350 jobs, most of them full-time, will be filled by South Side residents. Asked whether the eight-year political battle was worth the wait, Restivo said, “The time and energy spent opening the store was well worth it because more residents in the city will have access to jobs and fresh, affordable food in an area of the city where residents need more affordable options for fresh, healthy food.” Later this year, Walmart plans to open: the Pullman supercenter; Neighborhood Markets in Lake View and Auburn-Gresham and Walmart Express stores in West Englewood and River North.
Getting to the Heart of Christmas 2011: Bastrop County, TX
Walmart has joined the Today Show to co-produce the “Getting to The Heart of Christmas” series, which brings surprise Christmases to deserving families and organizations across America. This morning, the Today Show featured the third and final segments which focused on volunteer firefighters who lost their homes during a devastating wildfire in Bastrop County, TX.
Watch the full video at the Today Show
Walmart’s “12 Days of Giving” Facebook Campaign Spreads $1.5 Million in Holiday Cheer Across All 50 States
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
On the “First Day of Giving” Retailer Gives $130k to Organizations Stepping Up to Fight Hunger
BENTONVILLE, Ark., Dec. 12, 2011 – ‘Tis the season for spreading holiday cheer and Walmart is doing just that. Today, the company kicks off its “12 Days of Giving” campaign, awarding over $1.5 million to nonprofits that were nominated by Facebook users. By the end of the campaign, 145 grant recipients in all 50 states, Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico will be honored. Twenty-five nonprofits that have stepped up to fight hunger are receiving a total of $130,000 on the first day of giving.
Walmart’s 12-day call for submissions resulted in more than 5,400 nominations from Facebook users who shared photos and short descriptions of a nonprofit’s impact in its local community. A panel from the Walmart Foundation reviewed submissions and selected winners with a focus on organizations that are providing basic needs such as food, shelter, clothing and baby supplies. (more…)
Walmart Launches “12 Days of Giving” Campaign on Facebook
Company Commits $1.5 Million to U.S. Nonprofits Focused on Providing Basic Needs
BENTONVILLE, Ark., Nov. 14, 2011 – Who said write-in ballots are only for politics? For the first time, Walmart is empowering Facebook users to write in – or nominate – local nonprofits to receive part of $1.5 million in grants this holiday season. Through its “12 Days of Giving” campaign, the company will accept submissions via Facebook with an eye for local organizations that are providing basic needs such as food, shelter, clothing and baby supplies. (more…)
