Walmart joins cotton sustainability initiative
Walmart is amping up its efforts to ensure it sources sustainable cotton.
The discount giant has joined the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol, a voluntary, science-based sustainability program and traceability platform for U.S. cotton that provides quantifiable and verifiable goals and measurement. The program collects field-level data across six sustainability metrics — land use, soil health, water management, greenhouse gas emissions, energy use, and fiber quality — which is aggregated, then verified by an independent third party.
As a member of the Trust Protocol, Walmart will gain access to aggregated, verifiable data on sustainability practices from U.S. cotton growers and have the ability to track the movement of U.S. Cotton and Protocol cotton through its supply chain.
"At Walmart, we are committed to providing our customers with quality products that are not only affordable but also produced in a way that is responsible and sustainable," said Jerome Del Porto, head of corporate sustainability at Walmart. "Joining the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol is another step in our journey to continue driving meaningful change within our own supply chain and the industry at large."
Walmart pursues regenerative goal
Joining the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol aligns with Walmart's ambitions to source more sustainable cotton and help more sustainably manage, protect and/or restore at least 50 million acres of land and 1 million square miles of ocean by 2030.
Other recent examples of the strategy include deploying Helios Artificial Intelligence climate risk and price forecasting software, as well as partnering with crop supply intelligence company Agritask to test the effectiveness of AI in aiding fruit sourcing.
[READ MORE: Walmart pilots AI-assisted fruit sourcing]
The company is also teaming with CPG company Kellanova and sustainable agriculture solutions provider Indigo Ag to introduce a new regenerative agriculture program called "Source by Indigo" across Arkansas, as well as deploying custom-built solutions on the Cropin generative AI-equipped agricultural intelligence platform to improve the accuracy of efforts to forecast yield, monitor crop health and predict seasonal transitions of fresh produce across its U.S. and South American markets.
"We welcome Walmart to the Trust Protocol, recognizing the reach and influence their membership will extend in advancing sustainable cotton sourcing practices," said Gary Adams, president of the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol. "This collaboration directly strengthens our mission to drive continuous improvement and foster greater transparency in the supply chain."
Headquartered in Bentonville, Ark., Walmart operates more than 10,750 stores and numerous e-commerce websites in 19 countries.
