Wal-Mart abandoning organics PR campaign

Wal-Mart has been trying really hard to get some more upscale customers, not an easy task considering they're in the news just about every other day for some hideous display of corporate abuse. And one of the things they've tried is to start selling organic produce in their supermarkets. Of course, anyone who truly follows food issues just saw it for what it was - another greenwashing PR stunt. Much of the organic stuff was big agribusiness 'organics' and some were even from China, where who the hell knows what passes for organics there.

Well, apparently it's not working. MSNBC is reporting that Wal-Mart is scaling back on its organic plans, in some instances cutting them out completely. And it seems to be failing for several reasons. First, the average organic buyer isn't falling for it, and aren't going to be lured into Wal-mart just to save a few bucks. I think it's because many people who actually take the time to learn about organic foods are well aware that it's also about the scale of the operation, and don't trust foods from China or from Dole Corporation. Social and corporate responsibility do matter to many of these consumers.

There's a ton of info on Dole out there, but this one from 'Coop-America' sums up why many organics fans aren't buying what Wal-Mart is selling:

It may follow Chiquita in banana sales, but Dole is the reigning world leader in fresh fruit and vegetable production. Dole's image revolves around the health and nutrition of its food, but nowhere does the company mention the poverty and ill health suffered by agricultural workers to bring Dole goods to the world. In Central America Dole's reputation for destruction derives from the poisoning of thousands of workers by the dangerous pesticide dibromochloropropane, also known by the brand names Nemagon and Fumazone. In 1979 the chemical was banned in the US when it was suspected of causing sterility, miscarriages, birth defects, and cancer when inhaled or absorbed throught the skin. Dole and other companies allowed workers in Central America to continue using the pesticide without warning of the devastating effects. Fruit and vegetable producers suffer from low prices dictated by multinationals, and banana producers have been especially hard-hit by what is perceived as a "race to the bottom." When it comes to Dole and agriculture, Co-op America says workers and the environment need your support.

Another corporate predator. And as the MSNBC article points out, the economy of scale of many organic farms isn't fitting in with Wal-Mart's economy of scale for the cheapest possible products:

Consider the case of Organic Valley Family of Farms in La Farge, Wis., one of the country's largest cooperatives of organic farmers. When demand for organic milk soared two years ago, rival Horizon Organic Dairy offered to sell to Wal-Mart for 15% below Organic Valley's price. Wal-Mart expected a similar reduction from Organic Valley, but instead the cooperative pulled out. "Looking for ever-lower costs comes at a real cost to sustainability," says George Siemon, Organic Valley's chief executive. "To have consistent supply, you have to change the paradigm of thinking and think about long-term partnerships."

Wal-Mart is never going to get the socially conscious consumer, upscale or not, because those consumers are well aware that Wal-Mart by its very nature is not a good corpoate citizen, and in order for it to continue to exist, it never can be. But perhaps if the 'Left Behind' books, NASCAR everything and the other low points of American culture weren't so achingly prominent in a visit to Wal-Mart, some of the less socially conscious upscale buyers would have a reason not to go to Target. But then Wal-Mart would lose its main demographic. So it's probably best for them to just stick with that already huge part of the pie. And I'm not saying this from some liberal elite horseshit angle, although it may sound that way. It's the very real fact that these consumers inhabit two very different worlds, and are not exactly compatible with each other from a marketing sense. It's brie vs. Velveeta.