Walmart

At a Glance

Industry

Retail and Apparel

Project Types

Food and Agriculture, Supply Chain, Sustainability and Energy Management Strategy

Year

2024

Location

Bentonville, AR

Summary

Kristen Hovland recommended supplier learning optimizations and an upstream food waste measurement strategy to drive continued action on sustainability goals in Walmart's value chain.

Goals

Walmart's Project Gigaton - an initiative designed to engage suppliers in climate action - is central to the company's ambition to become regenerative. In February 2024, Walmart announced that its suppliers have reported projects that are expected to reduce, avoid or sequester 1 billion MT of emissions in global value chains by 2030 - helping the company achieve its goal six years early - and that it plans to evolve the project into its next phase. To continue driving ambitious action, Walmart enlisted Kristen Hovland to contribute to a future-looking strategy for Project Gigaton by 1) creating a systematic approach for the development of supplier learning content 2) developing a proposed strategy for upstream food waste measurement.

Solutions

To craft a supplier learning strategy, Kristen: - Analyzed existing learning materials and backlog, identifying gaps. - Developed a system to determine high-priority content opportunities, focused on supporting Walmart's key goals and addressing supplier needs. - Identified optimization opportunities for Gigaton's learning content strategy to maximize the impact of existing and newly developed material. To develop an upstream food waste measurement proposal, Kristen: -Reviewed research on the food waste measurement landscape and identified high-opportunity product categories for food loss and waste reduction. -Engaged key stakeholders to gather input on relevant opportunities and limitations to food waste measurement in the Walmart ecosystem. -Crafted upstream food waste measurement options, a recommended approach, and next steps for a pilot to provide meaningful and actionable insights to reporting suppliers.

Potential Impact

A priority-focused learning content strategy, alongside platform optimizations, can deepen supplier engagement with Project Gigaton, supporting their ability to make meaningful progress on sustainability goals. Further, the proposed strategies for upstream food waste measurement have the potential to unlock cost savings, operational efficiencies, and emissions reductions if implemented at scale by connecting supplier and data to identify targeted hot spots. Given Walmart's position as the world's largest retailer and with the vast extent of its global value chain, deepened engagement with suppliers - both through learning content and shared pursuit of food waste reduction - has the potential to drive impact.

Related Links