Walmart is getting into the beef business | Calamatta Cuschieri

The Maltese market closed in the green on Wednesday, with the MSE Equity Total Return Index ending the session 0.314% higher, to 9,414.522 points. Best performer was Tigné Mall plc, adding 2.13% to close at 0.96, followed by Bank of Valletta plc with 1.90% increase to close at 1.34. Malta International Airport plc and RS2 Software plc also finished on a positive note, they added 1.52% and 0.71% to close at 6.70 and 1.41 respectively. The biggest fall was seen from MIDI plc. as it shed 4.07% to 0.59, followed by BMIT Technologies plc and GO plc, which slid 1.87% and 0.41% to close at 0.525 and 4.88 respectively. HSBC Bank Malta plc was active but closed unchanged.

European market closed on Wednesday mostly lower with the focus remaining on earnings. The Stoxx Europe 600 slid 0.09% to close at 390.98. FTSE 100 shed 0.68% to 7471.75.95, Germany’s DAX added 0.63% to 12313.16 while France’s CAC 40 fell 0.28% to close at 5576.06.

U.S. stocks closed lower Wednesday, following earnings from high-profile companies that offered a mixed picture of American corporations. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2%, to 26,597.05, while the S&P 500 index shed 0.2%, to 2,927.25. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 0.2%, to 8,102.01.

Walmart creates an Angus Beef Supply Chain, bypassing Tyson

The U.S. nation’s biggest grocer has partnered with a Texas cattle rancher and other industry-related businesses to provide a steady supply of no-hormone-added Angus beef to 500 of its stores beginning later this year.

The move comes two years after Walmart upgraded its steaks and roasts to higher-quality Angus, part of a broader push to improve the quality of its fresh foods amid intensifying competition in the $840 billion grocery sector.

Tyson Foods Inc. and Cargill Inc. currently provide Walmart with most of its beef, and will continue to do so. But Scott Neal, who runs Walmart’s meat business, said the retailer also wanted to form its own supply partnership in response to customer demands to know more about who actually grows the food found in supermarket aisles and where it comes from. The company estimates the effort will trim costs and create about 450 jobs.

Tyson shares fell as much as 2.2 percent in New York Wednesday following the news. They had been up as much as 0.6 percent ahead of the report.

Retailers are increasingly taking control of the production of the food they sell to better respond to demand in a market where consumers’ tastes are changing rapidly. Walmart last year opened a milk processing facility in Indiana to supply its Great Value store brand, and warehouse chain Costco Wholesale Corp. is building a plant in Nebraska to produce its popular $5 rotisserie chickens.
 

This article was issued by Nadiia Grech, junior trader at Calamatta Cuschieri. For more information visit, www.cc.com.mt. The information, view and opinions provided in this article are being provided solely for educational and informational purposes and should not be construed as investment advice, advice concerning particular investments or investment decisions, or tax or legal advice. Calamatta Cuschieri Investment Services Ltd has not verified and consequently neither warrants the accuracy nor the veracity of any information, views or opinions appearing on this website.