It doesn’t get much more mainstream than Walmart. As the largest grocer in the United States with nearly 5,000 locations nationwide, it’s also not the place you might think of as an incubator for up and coming brands– especially if you’re positioned as healthy or better-for-you.
But in recent years, Walmart has begun carving out significant shelf space in select locations to help build the next generation of brands. In this video from BevNET Live Winter 2018, Sarah Alderson, divisional merchandise manager of chilled packaged goods at Walmart, discusses how the retailer is embracing innovation and seeking to break its monolithic, low-priced reputation by opening the doors to startups and offering a powerful launchpad for maximizing a brand’s value.