The Italian Trade Agency (ITA) and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. have agreed to develop a Walmart brand line of imported Italian food and wine products.
The one-year agreement, which will see Walmart increase purchases from Italy by 16% per year, is part of a wider initiative by ITA to boost sales of Italian food and wines in the States.
ITA is set to organise buying trips to Italy for Walmart managers to scout for new dry grocery products to sell on the shelves of its 3,600 stores across the US.
The logo 'Extraordinary Italian Taste' will be used to designate Italian products on Walmart’s marketing material in stores.
According to ITA president, Michele Scannaini, this agreement will help especially small and medium-sized Italian companies that by themselves would have found it very hard to get access to the US market.
Italian food and wine exports to the US rose 4% in 2016 to €4.6 billion. This positive performance was mainly achieved by increases in the following categories: ice cream (+34.5%), sweet products and those based on cocoa (+31.5%), vegetables with oil (+9.2%), rice (+8.8%), olive oil (+6.6%), wine (+6.6%), vegetables and fresh fruit (+4.9%).
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine
