WalterMart eyes UNLI-Fresh expansion with Mayani, rolls out Palengke Day

Shoppers flock the UNLI-Fresh grocery pavilion of WalterMart and MAYANI as they fill their shopping bags with freshly-harvest produce for only P399

Supermarket chain leader WalterMart is strengthening its shopper relevance and casting a bigger community reach through its various shopping formats this 2023, particularly its flagship innovation UNLI-Fresh 399 with fast-growing agri-fisheries firm MAYANI.

With a retail network of 45 stores spanning the entire Luzon, WalterMart has already institutionalized this anticipated weekend shopping bonanza – which now moves metric tons of harvest per day - by unveiling its provincial and Metro Manila caravans for the first quarter of this year: Cavite, Batangas, and Bulacan for February, then Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, Muntinlupa, and Calabarzon region this March.

Building on this shopping energy is also the roll-out of the first ever "Palengke Day" in WalterMart Muntinlupa this February 17 to 19 which seeks to put a modern take on the concept of "bagsakan" and enable even the nearby "palengke"  vendors to avail of freshly-sourced everyday local products such as onions and eggs, two of the most in-demand staples now given the recent supply challenges.  

“We will provide value to our customers and to our community through: FRESH – commodities of utmost quality, reasonably priced, sourced from our local farmers and cooperatives with our alagang WM personalized service; SAVINGS – everyday savings with competitively-priced merchandise and options for private labels and house brands; and CONVENIENCE – provide complete assortment in a clean, safe, and comfortable one-stop shop with fast transactions both offline and online. Sharing the same vision with MAYANI, we always aim to bring good value products to our customers and provide a better life to our partner farmers.” ~Rose Caalam, General Manager of WalterMart Supermarket

Tracing its beginnings as a small community supermarket in 1992, WalterMart now boasts of over 20,000 competitively-priced items and key consumer-oriented milestones including the mounting of Palengke Fresh with MAYANI during the height of the lockdown, its 5S Safe Shopping Program, and its CallMeWally same-delivery grocery delivery service – all under the aegis of its service campaign of “More to Love at WalterMart.”

“We will continue to innovate our joint offerings with WalterMart while being steadfast in our mission-first approach of strengthening those institutional market linkages for our smallholder growers and producers. Agriculture is a foundational and priority sector for the country, and we are optimistic that with the ecosystem of partners we developed over the years, MAYANI can drive more value for shoppers while creating positive social good across our agri-value chain.” ~Robert Esquillo, Partnerships Manager of MAYANI

WalterMart offers more value to shoppers, pushes team-up with Mayani farmers to the provinces

Provincial consumers can fill their shopping bags with as many fresh fruits and vegetables for only P399 while also helping our Filipino farmers

As the country faces the post-pandemic challenges of rising prices and inflation effects, community supermarket chain WalterMart continue to innovate its retail offering through the UNLI FRESH initiative and activating it in large provinces: Cavite, Batangas, Pampanga, and Bulacan.

Through its collaboration with core trade partner Mayani, the country’s fastest-growing farm-to-table platform with a network of over 139,000 smallholder farmers and fisherfolks, UNFLI FRESH will provide a value-oriented shopping experience to these provincial communities starting with Waltermart Bacoor this August 5 to 7.

“We see this as a pro-active shared step towards making fresh produce and agricultural products more accessible, value-driven, and perhaps most importantly in light of the growing provincial demand, more inclusive to the evolving consumer base beyond the metropolis. With the recent earthquake up in the north and the disruption in the agricultural sector, this undertaking could not have come at a more relevant time.” ~Lance Villanueva, the Co-Founder and Chief of Fulfillment of Mayani

Villanueva also pointed out that this builds on the impact partnership momentum WalterMart and Mayani started after jointly activating their Palengke Fresh and Community Pantry network support projects in 2021. 

WalterMart will elevate the shopping experience through a dedicated UNLI FRESH grocery pavilion while being compliant with its 5S safe shopping program: Screening, Shield, Sanitation, Social distancing, and Service Heart. The said spot will also be festive in terms of fresh options – a wide assortment that the consumers can fill their bags with for only P399.

“I believe there is no better time to let our provincial shoppes enjoy our UNLIFRESH than now. At WalterMart, it is our mission to elevate our customers’ shopping experience. Because of this we want to give all of our shoppers the chance to enjoy the UNLIFRESH activity that we have initially offered in select Manila stores. Not only does it give value, we believe it also adds fun to the whole shopping mission.” ~Len Salita, Vice President for Merchandising and Head of the Fresh Department of WalterMart

Salita adds that Mayani has been a long-time partner of WalterMart and the common values that they share simply defines the success of this endeavor. “We trust that given Mayani’s strong network, we will be able to deliver the real value of having directly sourced fresh fruits and vegetables within our customers’ reach, and the same time extend the much needed market linkage to our partner farmers.” 

Every Friday to Sunday, UNLI FRESH will land in various provincial WalterMart Malls in a caravan style: August 12 to 14 for Tanauan in Batangas, August 19 to 21 for San Fernando in Pampanga, and August 26 to 28 for Sta Maria in Bulacan. 

WalterMart Supermarket partners with Mayani to support local farmers and uplift communities

On Palengke Fresh weekends, WalterMart Supermarket mounts a “bagsakan” market in the parking lot of WalterMart malls, thereby making it a safe and preferred shopping destination among customers.

To strengthen its agricultural supply chain while relieving the plight of our local farmers, WalterMart Supermarket – one of the biggest supermarket chains in the Philippines, launches Palengke Fresh with Mayani, the fastest-growing farm-to-table digital platform. 

Through this program, WalterMart will procure directly from Mayani’s network of over 12,000 smallholder farmers to provide fresher produce with a better value to all its shoppers.

“Our commitment to the communities and our customers is to win through malasakit from farm to market. Malasakit to ensure a sustainable income for our farmers during this pandemic through Mayani, malasakit to our customers by providing them quality and affordable fresh produce assortment, and malasakit to employees by making our proud local ambassadors of fresh and healthy products.” ~Rose Caalam, General Manager of WalterMart Supermarket

WalterMart has been helping various farmers cooperatives and associations since the roll-out of Palengke Fresh in 2019. Given WalterMart’s expansive network of community shopping malls across Metro Manila, Central Luzon, and South Luzon, the program sought to leverage such footprint to aid more rural farming communities by integrating Mayani into WalterMart’s responsible, “support local” value chain.

“This team-up is a huge leap forward for our smallholder farmers not only in terms of higher rural incomes for them, but the predictability of it during these volatile times.” ~JT Solis, the Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Mayani

Solis also pointed out that because of Mayani’s role as the direct platform conduit between farmers and big commercial customers such as WalterMart and other reputable retailers, the pricing of fresh produce on supermarket shelves becomes even more competitive drawing from supply chain efficiencies and lowered transaction costs.

On top of this, for the whole month of May, WalterMart is also supporting various community pantries that sprouted in different parts of Luzon. It encourages all of its shoppers to purchase the local produce in its Palengke Fresh and have them donated to different community pantries in areas where WalterMart is. For as low as ₱50, customers can get a Chopsuey Pack to uplift those grassroots communities.

WalterMart is available both online at www.waltermart.com and in-store with 39 WalterMart Supermarket branches in Luzon.