Last updated on July 9th, 2018 at 10:11 am
Walmart is launching a new “Supplier Inclusion Showcase” on Walmart.com to spotlight products from its community of diverse suppliers, including companies operated by minorities, women, veterans, members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, and people with disabilities.
The Supplier Inclusion Showcase is launching at Essence Festival in New Orleans, a multicultural event, which Walmart has sponsored since 2007. The first products featured on the Supplier Inclusion Showcase are from more than a dozen Walmart suppliers who are attending the festival and from a variety of categories, including everything from Cynthia Bailey eyewear to Joe’s Gourmet Fish Fry to Positively Perfect Dolls by Dr. Lisa Williams. These suppliers are part of Walmart’s network of more than the 2,600 diverse suppliers who now represent hundreds of thousands of products in Walmart stores and on Walmart.com. After Essence Festival, the showcase will be updated periodically to highlight other diverse suppliers’ products at “key moments in the future.”
“At Walmart, we are proud to be able to use our stores and websites to empower diverse suppliers,” said Michael Byron, senior director of supplier diversity and inclusion. “Our customers represent all of America, and we want to be sure our suppliers do, too. Supplier inclusion means that we’re able to deliver innovative, quality products and a broader selection to the communities we serve. We encourage diverse companies to explore new possibilities with Walmart and on Walmart.com.”
Suppliers featured on the showcase have identified their companies as diverse. A diverse supplier is defined as a U.S. privately held company that is 51 percent owned and operated by a woman, minority, veteran, disabled veteran, person with a disability or a member of the LGBT community. Walmart recognizes and tracks the following diverse classifications: women, African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans, Native Americans, Native Alaskans, LGBT people, veterans, disabled veterans and people with disabilities.
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