Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
500 firms tout wares, ask Wal-Mart to buy
Michael Baptiste and his business partner, H.E. Neter Kush Ben Alkebulan, were the most visible entrepreneurs walking around WalMart’s home office Wednesday.
The Florida residents were dressed in banana costumes.
“We’ve traded in our business suits for banana suits,” Alkebulan said.
The leaders behind Fresh Start Beverage Co., a startup that produces dairy-free banana milk, were among the representatives of more than 500 businesses spread across Wal-Mart’s campus in Bentonville as part of the retailer’s fourth annual Open Call event. Wal-Mart scheduled more than 750 meetings for the event, which is part of the company’s commitment to purchase an additional $250 billion in American-made products by 2023.
Fresh Start Beverage reached a deal with WalMart last year to carry its Banana Wave beverage product on shelves in about 40 WalMart stores in California. Company leaders were back again Wednesday and successfully strengthened their partnership, boosting a business that began in 2013 when Alkebulan turned his grandmother’s recipe into an item he sold at farmers markets and college campuses until getting the company’s first big break at Whole Foods.
“We’ve been able to get over that three-year hump, so now we’re moving into that growth phase,” said Alkebulan, who said the company currently has about 10 employees. “There’s a balance there. The more we expand, the more jobs we create.”
Banana Wave was just one of the success stories throughout the daylong event, which began with a 90-minute general session featuring Wal- Mart Chief Executive Officer Doug McMillon, U.S. stores chief Greg Foran and Gov. Asa Hutchinson. WalMart executives highlighted the company’s American-made efforts, welcoming businesses from 48 states and Puerto Rico.
“I just want to buy items all day,” McMillon said. “I’d love to walk up and down the hallway and say: ‘Yes. Yes. Yes.’”
Wal-Mart told the companies in attendance that the products they were pitching to buyers would be added to offerings on Walmart.com. It was the second straight year the retailer has offered a starting point online.
Wal-Mart didn’t provide specifics on its progress in purchasing American-made products as part of its 10-year, $250 billion commitment.
“We’ve come a long way, we’ve learned a lot and we certainly still have more work to do,” Cindi Marsiglio, WalMart’s vice president of U.S. manufacturing, said. “We’ve seen first-hand that by supporting American jobs and American manufacturing, it’s great for our customer, it’s great for our business and it’s really great for the communities that we serve.”
Dera Industries LLC, a producer of a reusable rubber cable tie called the Dera-tie, was promised a spot on WalMart shelves after emerging as the winner of a competition in which Wal-Mart employees rated products on quality, innovation and value.
Hugh and Nicole Jarratt, one of the biggest success stories during the first Open Call event four years ago with the Taco Plate, made another successful pitch with Wood Warmers. The Fayetteville couple said Wal-Mart will begin selling their idea — small pieces of wood infused with a fragrance created as an alternative to hot wax in warmers — in 500 to 1,000 stores as
part of a test that could eventually lead to a larger rollout.
“It’s unbelievable,” Hugh Jarratt said. “Frankly, it’s a better reaction than I thought, as new as the product is.”
Charcoal Box, a Jonesborobased company that makes a burnable charcoal chimney, didn’t leave Bentonville with a deal in hand. But Patrick Hanna, a company representative, is optimistic there will be a purchase order soon, after the category buyer suggested some minor changes.
“What they liked was we’re an Arkansas company,” Hanna said. “The product was created here in Arkansas. We manufacture here in Arkansas. We provide jobs here in Arkansas.”
The event served as a recruiting
tool for Hutchinson, who touted the state’s 3.4 percent unemployment rate. Hutchinson also said WalMart’s efforts through the initiative has had an effect on manufacturing, pointing to last year’s announcement that Pernod Ricard USA in Fort Smith would bottle 150,000 cases of Malibu Rum annually for Wal-Mart.
“We want you to sell to Wal-Mart,” Hutchinson said. “We want you to manufacture in your home state. And then we want you to expand to Arkansas.”
Mike Preston, executive director of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, said the event remains beneficial as the state works to recruit businesses, calling it a hook that gets them on the
line and adding it’s up to the state to “do the rest and reel them in.”
“You have all these potential suppliers, people looking to break into Wal-Mart, and they’re just right there for us to grab business cards and give our business cards,” Preston said. “We can say if you guys are successful and going to be doing a lot of business with Arkansas, it makes a lot of sense for you to be here in Arkansas.”
Tony Rogers, Wal-Mart’s chief marketing officer, said the retailer is committed to purchasing American-made products because it results in more U.S. jobs. The company believes its 10-year commitment could lead to the creation of 1 million jobs.
According to Wal-Mart’s research, 71 percent of its customers prefer to purchase products made in the U.S. and 55 percent make an effort to purchase American-made items. In addition, 69 percent of Wal-Mart customers buy American-made products to help keep or create jobs, and 41 percent said buying American has become more important.
“It’s not a PR campaign,” Foran said. “It’s not something we do just to tick a box. I simply believe it is something that is really good for us to do.”