At Walmart Canada, our merchant teams work tirelessly to bring the products our customers need and want to shelves, working in collaboration with more than 4,000 suppliers around the world.
At this year’s Supplier Growth Forum on March 10, 2023, Walmart Canada recognized suppliers who made significant contributions to Walmart Canada in 2022 and presented Supplier of the Year awards across six categories. Suppliers were awarded based on performance in five areas: sales, strategic investment & profit, growth mindset, customer & community, fundamentals and digital.
“Our suppliers are integral to the success of our business, working closely with our merchants to bring incredible products to market that provide the quality and value our Walmart Canada customers are looking for,” shares Sam Wankowski, Chief Merchandising Officer, Walmart Canada. “The close, collaborative relationships we have with our suppliers help to keep our shelves stocked and support us in delivering on our promise to help Canadians save money and live better.”
2023 Walmart Canada Supplier of the Year Award Winners:
- Supplier of the Year Apparel 2023: Thread Collective Inc.
- Supplier of the Year Consumables 2023: Zuru
- Supplier of the Year Food 2023: FGF Brands Inc.
- Supplier of the Year General Merchandise 2023: LEGO
- Supplier of the Year Health & Wellness 2023: Bayer
- Supplier of the Year Walmart Brands 2023: Fresh Taste
Walmart Canada is proud to work with close to 2,000 Canadian suppliers. This year’s Supplier of the Year winners includes two Canadian businesses: FGF Brands Inc. and Fresh Taste.
As part of their portfolios with Walmart Canada, both of these suppliers support Walmart Canada’s private label offering. “We want our customers to save money with our Walmart Brands, but we never want them to have to compromise on quality. It takes true vendor collaboration to help deliver on these goals,” explains Flora Thay, Vice President, Walmart Brands, Walmart Canada.
FGF Brands Inc., based in North York, ON is a full-service food manufacturing company that produces some of Walmart Canada’s top bakery items, including muffins, naan bread, packaged bread and croissants. This year, Walmart Canada accelerated its transformation and delivered against new operating model commitments in bakery.
“FGF Brands Inc. has acted with agility and speed to help position Walmart Canada for success. They prioritize availability, achieving over 97% Fill Rate, helping to keep our shelves full and allowing us to consistently satisfy customers and deliver strong market share gains,” shares Hilary Wingate, Director, Bakery, Walmart Canada.
Fresh Taste, based in Milton, ON provides produce for Walmart Canada under the Your Fresh Market Brand, with offerings including citrus, global foods, fresh cut fruit and – new this year – our Your Fresh Market Meal Kits. These meal kits allow Canadians to access easy, fresh, ready-to-make meals for their family for $9.97 (4 servings).
“A vendor relationship where we can think outside of the box together is one where we can bring innovation, create market disruption and drive simplification within our EDLP business model,” says Flora Thay, VP Walmart Brands, Walmart Canada. “This year, Fresh Taste stepped up to help us meet our goals by investing in new machinery, helping us to enter brand new categories and improve quality specifications, along with implementing a new upstream in Western Canada”.
