Walmart has announced a significant boost to spending on food safety in the Chinese market, which will include an increase in supplier inspections and in-store testing, according to Reuters.
The retail giant plans to invest Rmb300m (US$48m) in upgrading and maintaining food safety standards in the People’s Republic over the next two years. It’s a marked improvement on the Rmb100m (US$16m) it had previously allocated to this time period.
Walmart China’s chief compliance officer, Paul Gallemore, said the company also hoped to work with China’s food safety regulators more regularly.
Gallemore said food safety remained one of the biggest challenges to China’s rapidly expanding grocery market, which is expected to top US$1.5tr in value by 2016.
“We face similar challenges to all other retailers in China when it comes to sourcing products,” Gallemore told Reuters. “We have zero tolerance for adulterated goods.”
Walmart currently operates over 400 stores in China and plans to open up to 30 new outlets in the Asian nation over the next 18 months.
