April 29 (Reuters) - Walmart has opened its third milk processing facility in the United States with a more than $350 million investment, it said on Wednesday, adding to a decade-long effort to bolster its perishables supply chain.
The Robinson, Texas-based facility will process and bottle milk across sizes and types for its Great Value and Sam's Club Member's Mark private label brands. The facility will create over 400 new jobs, Walmart said.
It will supply to more than 650 Walmart stores and Sam's
Clubs across the South Central U.S. The retail bellwether has about 5,200 stores and clubs across the U.S.
The company first announced its foray into milk processing in early 2016, at a time when high investments in labor and in its e-commerce operations was pressuring margins.
Walmart was also trying to keep prices low for consumers amid stiff competition from rivals such as grocer Kroger.
The first facility in Fort Wayne, Indiana opened in 2018, and its second milk processing unit opened in Valdosta, Georgia in December last year.
The company also has two case-ready beef facilities in Georgia and Kansas, and as of fiscal 2025, more than two-thirds of its total U.S. product spend was on items made, grown or assembled on-shore.
In 2024, Walmart also announced that it would build five new warehouses equipped with automation technology that can handle temperature-sensitive products like milk, meat and vegetables and fruits as it worked to speed up deliveries for groceries.
More Americans, particularly those from higher-income households shop at Walmart for the convenience of delivery.
Shoppers using delivery in under three hours was up more than 60% during the company's fiscal 2026, and contribution to U.S. sales from e-commerce almost doubled in its most recently reported quarter.
(Reporting by Juveria Tabassum in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
