Walmart has received the 2023 INFORMS Prize from Catonsville, Md.-based INFORMS, the largest association for the decision and data sciences. The award is bestowed for consistent and innovative dedication to using operations research (O.R.) and analytics in organizational decision-making for demand forecasting, supply chain and merchandising operations. 

Use cases include tracking inventory positions, optimal truck routing, forecasting demand and inventory levels, cross-docking, and shelf space optimization.

“We have a long history of using O.R. across the enterprise,” said Srini Venkatesan, Walmart Global Tech’s U.S. omni tech EVP. “It all comes back to one core purpose: to make sure our customers can get the items they want, where they want them and when they want them. We are honored to accept the INFORMS Prize and will continue applying O.R. to drive innovation at scale.”

“Walmart is showcasing data science as a source of business success and a necessary element to achieve customer satisfaction with continuous and dedicated practice,” noted Nilay Noyan Bulbul, the 2023 INFORMS Prize committee chair. “Walmart is truly deserving of this prestigious prize, and the entire O.R. and analytics community joins INFORMS in thanking them for their priceless contributions to the field and the business world.”

Past recipients of the INFORMS Prize include Amazon and Procter & Gamble.

Each week, approximately 230 million customers and members visit Walmart’s more than 10,500 stores and numerous e-commerce websites under 46 banners in 24 countries. The Bentonville, Ark.-based company employs approximately 2.3 million associates worldwide. Walmart U.S. is No. 1 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2022 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America. Seattle-based Amazon is No. 2 on PG’s list. 

Northern California independent grocer Harvest Market has become the first grocery store in the country to deliver healthy-food incentives straight to a customer’s EBT card. The food retailer began participating in the program in March.

The incentives go to participants in CalFresh, California’s federally funded food assistance benefits program, also known as SNAP, who earn matching dollars when they buy California-grown fruits and vegetables. So if a shopper buys $5 worth of local produce, they receive $5 on their EBT card.

Customers can earn up to $60 in rebates per month at the Harvest Market locations in Fort Bragg and Mendocino, Calif. SPUR (the San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association), a nonprofit public policy organization, spearheaded the project. 

These programs have been linked to increased consumption of fruits and vegetables, resulting in less food insecurity, improved public health, and increased business for the California agriculture industry.

“Right now, with inflation, a reduction in public assistance benefits, and pandemic benefits ending, people need help,” said Harvest Market VP Jennifer Bosma. “And they need help on eating fresher, healthier food. This program gets fresh produce into more homes and encourages people to eat healthier. They get more food for their EBT dollar, and it helps California farmers.”

The CalFresh pilot project will run through December 2023. 

Family-owned Harvest Market operates three stores providing a unique blend of conventional, specialty, organic, domestic, international and local products. The indie also focuses on community support and sustainability practices.

Giant Eagle Inc. is relaunching the in-home delivery of its printed weekly circular to Cleveland-area customers beginning Tuesday, April 18, with a reimagined two-page version of the circular slated to debut early next month. 

The new circular will feature weekly savings for dozens of high-quality and seasonally relevant products from across the store, including popular national-brand items as well as a range of Giant Eagle-brand favorites. The new format will highlight the strongest promotions in print, while a simple scan of the displayed QR code will direct customers to Giant Eagle’s website, where they can view hundreds of other items that will be on sale each week. 

​​​“We are committed to putting our customers at the center of everything we do to ensure we provide what is most important to them, and what they want most right now is high-quality products at a good price,” said Brian Ferrier, SVP of merchandising at Giant Eagle. “Our new printed circular will showcase huge savings on some of our most popular items and will provide an opportunity for customers to discover hundreds of additional sale items by scanning the QR code that will be featured on the front page of every circular.” 

Along with the new weekly circular, Giant Eagle shoppers can save considerably on food, fuel and prescription medication through the company’s loyalty platform, myPerks. Program members earn Perks on all qualifying purchases across Giant Eagle’s banners -- Market District, GetGo and Giant Eagle Pharmacy -- that can be redeemed for free groceries and fuel.  

Pittsburgh-based Giant Eagle operates more than 490 stores throughout western Pennsylvania, north central Ohio, northern West Virginia, Maryland and Indiana. The company is No. 36 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer's 2022 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.

Food solutions company SpartanNash has brought on Arpen Shah in the role of VP, merchandising strategy and analytics. In addition to leading merchandising strategy and analytics for the overall merchandising business, Shah will be responsible for promotional planning, shelf technology, category management and merchandising data analytics.

Shah's most recent position was senior director, merchandising enablement at Essendant, and he also held roles at US Foods, United Stationers and Canon. 

"Arpen is an astute and people-first merchandising executive who has a strong background in category management and analytics," said SpartanNash SVP, Chief Merchandising Officer Bennett Morgan. "His expertise and relentless innovative drive will accelerate our customer-led merchandising transformation."

Earlier this month, SpartanNash promoted David Sisk from SVP to EVP, chief customer officer. In his new role, Sisk oversees customer engagements for all national accounts, independent and chain grocers, e-commerce retailers, and the U.S. Defense Commissary Agency and military exchanges worldwide.

SpartanNash’s core businesses include distributing grocery products to independent and chain retailers, its corporate-owned retail stores, and U.S. military commissaries and exchanges, as well as fresh produce distribution and fresh food processing. No. 41 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2022 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America, the Grand Rapids, Mich.-based company serves customer locations in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, Europe, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Honduras, Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Djibouti, Korea and Japan. SpartanNash also operates 147 supermarkets and employs 17,500-plus associates.

Food solutions company SpartanNash has joined forces with sustainability solutions organization Ecodrive to plant 20,000 mangrove trees in Kenya to celebrate Earth Day on April 22. Mangroves capture and store millions of pounds of carbon dioxide in their lifetime. They also create a habitat for hundreds of organisms and protect shorelines from erosion and storm surges. For every 100 trees planted, one full workday is created for a villager in need.

Los Angeles-based Ecodrive uses on-the-ground monitoring, data verification and storage through the application of blockchain technology to improve transparency and trust in the tree-planting process. The process ensures that trees won’t be double-counted or misattributed, and allows Ecodrive to track overall survivability, measuring real climate impact over time. 

In related news, HelloFresh-owned meal-kit provider Green Chef  has partnered with  One Tree Planted to plant a tree in northern Thailand for every new and returning customer who signs up to receive a Green Chef box of meal kits in April.

SpartanNash’s core businesses include distributing grocery products to independent and chain retailers, its corporate-owned retail stores, and U.S. military commissaries and exchanges, as well as fresh produce distribution and fresh food processing. No. 41 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2022 list of thetop food and consumables retailers in North America, the Grand Rapids, Mich.-based company serves customer locations in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, Europe, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Honduras, Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Djibouti, Korea and Japan. SpartanNash also operates 147 supermarkets and employs 17,500-plus associates. Berlin-based  HelloFresh operates in 18 international markets and is No. 50 on The PG 100.