Walmart has announced it will “enter into the beef industry” by developing an end-to-end Angus beef supply chain in the US.

The retailer said it was responding to customer demand for a more transparent supply chain and it was working with “best-in-class companies”.

Scott Neal, senior vice president of meat at Walmart US, said: “As clean labels, traceability and transparency become more and more important to customers, we’ve made plans to enter into the beef industry creating an unmatched system that allows us to deliver consistent quality and value.”

Walmart will be working with Prime Pursuits to source cattle, Mc6 Cattle Feeders to feed them, Creekstone Farms to process them and FPL Foods will provide packaging services.

Texas rancher Bob McClaren, of Prime Pursuits, said: “No bigger paradigm change has taken place in the beef industry than what is happening with Walmart bringing truly high-quality, all-natural, no-hormones-added Black Angus beef to its customers.”

The Creekstone processing facility in Kansas, and the FPL Foods facility in Georgia, will provide more than 550 jobs altogether.

Last December McDonald’s banned the use of antibiotics in its beef supply chain.

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