I have spent an inordinate amount of time slamming Wal-Mart for various atrocities. Let's face it, they are an easy target. But fair is fair and when they do something that is positive for the environment, I think it is important to point it out.
Coral Rose, former ladies' apparel buyer for Sam's Club, outlines Wal-Mart's journey into organic cotton in her white paper, Good for Business, Good for the Environment, published in FutureFashion White Papers, Earth Pledge, 2007, ISBN 978-0-9675099-2-1.
Ms. Rose was well aware of the dangers of pesticides based on her personal history. Living in the L.A. Basin in the late 70's and 80's, she and her family were subjected to pesticide crop dusting. The family dog consequently developed cancer and died. As time went on her mother, father and several neighbors were diagnosed with cancer. Both her parents died from the disease.
Rose's experience lead her to investigate pesticides and move to a more organic lifestyle. Cotton is one of the biggest pesticide offenders. Many of the chemicals in cotton pesticides were developed in WWII as nerve gases. It takes 1/3 lb. of chemicals and pesticides to grow enough cotton for ONE conventional t-shirt. Why would anyone want to put that residue on their body, let alone in their mouths? (We do ingest cotton oil in our junk food and since cotton seed is fed to poultry and livestock, we indirectly ingest it through our meat. Don't foget the run-off into our water supply.)
Rose saw a real opportunity to move a very large company toward organic cotton as ladies' apparel buyer at Sam's Club. A success at Sam's Club could lead to a major business re-focus at Wal-Mart and result in bringing organic products to the Mass Market.
Most consumers are interested in style, quality and price. The challenge then is to bring the organic product in line with the non-organic product on these three dimensions. The Sam's Club customer is also an impulse shopper. From personal experience, Rose also knew buying organic is a lifestyle choice. Armed with this information, Rose examined the sales of ladies' apparel and found the most successful category was Active Wear. Active Wear + Lifestyle choice lead her to Yoga Wear as a sub-category most likely to be receptive to organic cotton.
Rose set about creating a program of yoga pants and tops in pastel colors, priced similarly to a non-organic cotton product. Sam's Club sold over 190,000 units in 10 weeks. During the launch, Rose visited many stores and observed the selling floor. She noted that typical shoppers were attracted to the product by style and color, then they checked the price. The hand of the garment was so soft that the customer would check the label and find it was organic. That was the icing on the cake. Organic was the value added that fueled the customer's enthusiasm.
This experiment proved that a mass-merchant can meet or exceed sales goals while being environmentally responsible. Rose built internal support for organic cotton and kept the program going. Sales remained strong and proved that if it sold well in conventional cotton, it would sell just as well, if not better in organic cotton. From the grassroots, Rose built an organic movement at Wal-mart.
Wal-mart is in a unique position to support organic production. First, the volume of units it deals with can keep the cost of organic product down so it is in line with non-organic product.
One issue with organic cotton comes from the farming side. Farmers must plant a rotation crop in an organic cotton field periodically in order to restore the soil to a condition that will support organic cotton growth. Because Wal-Mart carries multiple product categories it can often provide a market for the end product of the rotation crop as well.
Wal-mart's adoption of organic product is a win-win for us all. The organic farmer is supported through the entire crop rotation cycle. The consumer is rewarded with affordable organic products in a variety of categories. Organic can truly be a lifestyle choice for all. Wal-mart wins as well - being environmentally responsible translates to economic growth.
Rose has gone on to found her own business, Eco-Innovations. Her mission is to "support companies in integrating sustainable values into their services, strategies and products."
Till next week -- Restore, Refresh, Recycle, Renew
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12 comments:
I really enjoyed reading this Blog post. Although all of them are interesting I enjoy this topic because as a young soon to be graduate, I feel as though I will be entering a world where the topics of “green” and “organic” products will surround a lot of future business decisions. I commend Wal-mart for stepping up and doing something positive. As a company that has so much pull because of their order placement sizes, I am glad that they have started in a positive direction. I feel that they will probably see this as an opportunity to rebuild their brand name as positive and caring. Especially with their new brand look I am sure they will want to revamp themselves entirely. Although they will probably be changing their appearance so they can continue to grow with expanding trends, I feel they are probably doing it for the wrong reasons. On the positive side they will be helping the environment and making the customer happy. However I am sure that they are just proud for finding a way to keep their now “green” conscience customer around, and also gain new customers that are concerned about the environment and are price conscience. However whatever the reason, kudos to Wal-mart for changing their ways!
Until reading this blog I was very unaware of the extremely toxic and even deadly effects of cotton pesticides. I never realized that such a large amount of pesticides and chemicals went into making one cotton t-shirt, in addition to just learning about the amount of waste it creates. It’s also crazy to think that we are using and wearing a chemical close to our skin that is responsible for causing cancers. The business strategy that Rose came up with is very valuable not only to the environment for consumers as well. I do, however question whether Wal-Mart carries the organic cotton to help the environment or whether they are just trying to capitalize on the green movement like so many other retailers. Either way I think it is great that such enormous companies like Wal-Mart or Sam’s are finding friendly alternatives, since they have such a large environmental impact. As I mentioned in a previous blog, if I was shopping for an item and found that it was offered in a cheap, organic option as well, I would definitely be won over by the organic label. It’s also great that Wal-Mart is using their monopolistic power to do something good for mankind, something that Wal-Mart has overlooked and abused in the past.
It is nice to see that Wal-Mart is doing something about the environment, especially with their track record. However, after D&M Seminar I have realized that sometimes the process of producing organic products is just as harmful as making non-organic. I would like to think that Wal-Mart is making sure that they are being as eco-responsible as possible. Being such a large retailer, they have a huge impact on our environment. Hopefully they are doing the right thing and not just doing this for PR purposes. If this is really something that they are looking to do then I think it is great for America. It finally gives people the opportunity to go green at a lower cost, which is imperative especially in this economy.
Because Wal-Mart is such a pivotal retailer, It will be interesting to see how their slow transition to organic cotton and other products will affect the name of the game. In my mind the Wal-Mart shopper is influenced by low prices. If Wal-Mart has the capability of selling an environmentally friendly product with both a low carbon imprint and a low price tag, how will this affect the green movement? If people can do good for the environment at a low cost, why wouldn't they choose organic? It makes us as consumers feel a little better about purchasing. If this becomes the trend and instinctual buying, will being "green" carry as much stature as its current position? Many retailers play on the green initiative to capture sales. Will higher end retailers still want green exposure if it is a discounters game?
When something becomes easily and readily available and accessible it is usually less desired, in time, by consumers (as far as desire is concerned and not necessity). If everyone is buying organic at a cheap price, what is going to make that continually attractive to consumers? I know when everyone I can think of has something, I usually end up not wanting what they have. People always seem to be looking for the next best thing.
However, I may be completely inaccurate in saying any of this. Organic cotton and green apparel may not be a trend at all, and availability may not have and affect on consumers. It could really turn out to be a huge societal shift from pesticide ridden apparel to environmentally friendly production.
I agree that it is great that companies like Walmart and Sams are becoming involved in the green movement but I hope they are not sacrificing other issues like labor rights just to jump on the band wagon. However, if the merchandise can be environmentally and socially sound as well as affordable then I see no problem. I do not think that the lower price of ethical products will make them loose their appeal. I agree that the Walmart shopper is looking for cheap prices but they are after all people, and people are by nature empathetic. Those shopping for environmentally and socially sound products should be doing so for moral reasons not because it is trendy. Shoppers who currently do so for the later will hopefully realize the impact their purchasing behavior has or, at the least, make it a habit of shopping consciously. Better yet, hopefully the entire industry will evolve shifting priorities towards ethical production and therefore only provide ethical merchandise. In the scope of things, whether or not something is considered attractive or trendy pails in comparison to human and environmental rights. If doing the right thing ever goes out of fashion I think we have some bigger issues.
Ms. Rose's beginning story was sad, but it is nice to see her passion and knowledge shine through her work at Wal-mart. It's not often you hear about Wal-mart in a good light, so when they do something good, it really sticks out. Even though they may only be doing it to jump on the green movement bandwagon, at least its helping the environment. When consumers start noticing that they can help with the environment and be able to afford it, maybe it will open their eyes to other sustainable options as well.
I think majority of shoppers are going to buy products based on whether they like it or not or can afford it or not, so if there are two identical tops, one organic and one non-organic, and the organic one costs more people are going to buy the non-organic one. But if the organic tops are more stylish than the non-organic ones I think people would buy those instead. So if stores offered more organic products that had more appeal than the non-organic ones, customers would unknowingly help the environment even if they aren't environmentally conscious.
I was pleasantly surprised to learn about Wal-Mart’s venture in organic cotton after reading this post. It truly shows that one person in the right spot at the right time can make a difference. While we tend to bash Wal-Mart, they seem to be doing something right to have such a striving company. By giving attention to environmentally friendly products they are gaining new customers, customers that most likely wouldn’t usually shop at their stores. They are also introducing something new to their loyal, everyday shopper. By using organic cotton they are making it mainstream, which will hopefully be used by many other retailers. On a personal level, I will admit that I don’t shop at Wal-Mart but now knowing that they offer organic cotton at reasonable price, maybe I will. I commend Wal-Mart in their effort just like I would to any other retailer who is making a conscious effort change how we treat the environment.
It is really great to hear and see large volume stores like Wal-Mart and Sams Club stepping up to where they belong in this day and age. With what we know about how harmful chemicals and pesticides, and what they do to us and the environment there really is no excuse for people not to be consciously making an effort to be eco friendly.
I feel that it is going to take many more years and hundreds of tragic stories like Ms. Rose's for people to realize the harm that we have caused in using/supporting the use of chemicals on our crops. Like mentioned in the blog the cycle come back whether we realize it or not.
Kristan Alekna
It really is nice to hear about such a great thing happening at Wal-mart. After all of the negative things Wal-mart has done and what I have heard about, it makes me really happy to know they are contributing to such a positive change. I was surprised by the things I read about the cotton and the pesticides. It's sad what happened with Rose's family because of being subjected to pesticide crop dusting. Although it's awesome that she is doing something about it. She's making a big impact with bringing organic products to the mass market to help prevent what happened to her family. Wal-mart is a huge company and they are a major leader, hopefully Wal-mart will create a chain reaction and soon this trend will rub off on other companies once they start seeing the success of Wal-mart. I feel that more and more people are realizing that we need to start making positive changes to help the environment and more people are going green. I think people will be willing to change their lifestyle a little to do what they can to help the environment. Hearing about Wal-mart making such a positive change gives me some hope for the future of this world.
Before this blog I have never realized that cotton is one of the biggest pesticide offenders. It is ironic how the truth is so much different from the comforting advertised slogan of how cotton is “…the fabric of our lives”. In this case, I think that organic products should be made available to everyone, including the mass market. Everyone should have the option to buy eco-friendly clothing, no matter how much money they have available to spend on clothing. Like the post had mentioned, people always highlight the cons of Wal-Mart but never bring into light the actual good things that this giant retailer has to offer. I am pleased to read that Wal-Mart has integrated organic cotton into their clothing lines so that it is obtainable to those in the mass market. Now those who were not available to fully live a ‘green’ life by choice because of cost obstacles, may do so now.
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