Where Are Most Of Walmart's Great Value Food Products Made?

Say what you will about Walmart — it's everywhere. As a ubiquitous part of our landscape, the nation's largest grocery chain and its affordable groceries are scattered across the United States. While it's easy to take grocery accessibility for granted in the industrialized world, broader supply chains make it more difficult to tell where supermarkets are sourcing our food from. When it comes to the groceries stocked in Walmart's extra-wide aisles, one brand has a special appeal to budget-conscious shoppers.

Walmart's private-label banner, Great Value, stands out from the countless big-name brands for its savings. It has its own versions of everything from laundry detergent to canned veggies to cereal. Of course, there are some Great Value products to avoid buying, and it doesn't garner the same hype as the Trader Joe's or Costco Kirkland brands. Despite lacking the same cult-favorite status as competitors, Great Value is still Walmart's best seller.

Walmart states that two-thirds of its annual product spend is on items made or assembled in the United States. If you read the fine print on many a can, bag, or jar, you'll see a note reading that items are "Distributed by Walmart, Bentonville, AR" (the company's headquarters location). This is the case for most, but not all, goods. Some of the goods are made overseas, which must be clearly stated on the labels — per the rules of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection bureau. As far as each item's exact origins, don't expect too much transparency from Walmart or other grocery giants, other than this general country of origin note.

If you want more specific information on the origin of your Great Value products, you'll have to dig for it. Walmart, like most retailers, doesn't volunteer details regarding who or what brand makes each individual item. However, we know its in-house foods are made at a centralized Walmart-owned factory. For a company as huge as Walmart, with a product line as massive as Great Value (including household items, food, and more), there's simply no way for all of these items to be produced under one roof.

Walmart outsources by working with a diverse network of companies to produce Great Value-branded goods, which are then sold for a competitive lower price. For example, much of Walmart's bread is actually made by Sara Lee, and another big-name manufacturer churns out Great Value ice cream. Similarly, food giants, such as ConAgra and Kellogg's, are behind many of the dry goods on Walmart's shelves.

Though pinpointing these companies behind the Great Values products might take some legwork, Walmart is quite outspoken about its sourcing of domestically made goods. While some items come from other countries, the retailer prioritizes keeping things close to home. In 2021, Walmart pledged to commit $350 billion into products that are "made, grown, or assembled in the United States" over the next decade in an effort to bolster American jobs and curb transportation emissions.