Walmart Canada has launched a retail partnership with Italy’s COOP, which will see private label food brand Fior Fiore products on Walmart store shelves.
The products include pasta, pasta sauces, pesto, bruschetta and pates.
Walmart Canada’s Ivo Petroff, senior category manager for grocery and Sourabh Malik, senior director for grocery, says this partnership is the first of its kind for Walmart Canada.
“Fior Fiore is a premium private label range in Italy of COOP Italia. However, for us in Canada, these authentic products are offered at Walmart’s every day low prices,” says Petroff.
The partnership brings efficiencies to the business, adds Malik.
“With this retail-to-retail partnership, the scale of sourcing and consolidation, expertise and logistics is much more superior than any distributor or single manufacturer model. Consolidating under one branded umbrella like Fior Fiore with top food quality standards allows Walmart Canada to source products on a large scale directly from COOP, who work directly with small authentic family businesses in Italy. No other model can provide this at the scale we can.”
The Fior Fiore products feature a QR code on the packaging that gives customers the opportunity to learn more about a product’s journey.
“We’re always looking at ways to be even more transparent with our customers. For the moment, our corporate website walmartcanada.ca includes detailed information about our supply chain practices and standards.”
The new products, which includes a range of more than 40 SKUs, are in stores now. Walmart Canada will be bringing specialty oils and vinegars to store shelves in May and by the end of the summer “the development will continue with other exciting and authentic products,” says Petroff.
