The Supply Side: Master Brands wants eco-friendly paint in U.S. Walmart, Sam’s Club

Editor’s note: The Supply Side section of Talk Business & Politics focuses on the companies, organizations, issues and individuals engaged in providing products and services to retailers. The Supply Side is managed by Talk Business & Politics and sponsored by Propak Logistics.
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Supplying eco-friendly paints to Walmart’s U.S. stores and Sam’s Club has become a mission for Zoila Rivera and her team based in Puerto Rico. Rivera said Master Brands has been doing business with the retail giant since 2009 in its homeland, but getting in U.S. stores has been a challenge.

She said the flat economy in Puerto Rico is one reason she’s working to expand Master Brands paint distribution footprint. The paint production plant located in Barrio Magas, Guayanilla, Puerto Rico is 100% powered by solar energy and running at just 70% capacity, Rivera said. At 70% capacity, the plant has room to efficiently boost production capacity is increased with more demand for the paint.

The plant also is focused on making paints with low “Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) ratings, which are known as unstable, carbon-containing compounds that readily vaporize into the air. They have been linked to various health issues such as watery eyes, nausea and other breathing disorders.

Rivera recently presented to a paint buyer in Bentonville in connection with the Made in the U.S. initiative in hopes of getting Master Paint into stores in the greater Miami, Fla., area to start.

“We want to be their provider of paint, but now the retailer only uses one supplier for all its U.S. stores. Our paint qualifies as U.S. Made given its Puerto Rico origin and it’s made entirely by using solar power which also lines up with the retailer’s sustainability initiative. Lastly we are 100% Hispanic owned and we are also working their supplier diversity angle,” she said.

Rivera said Walmart U.S. only resets its paint modular once a year, and she’s keeping her fingers crossed that she can get another consideration before this spring when the plans are typically set. The Master Paint plant was recently audited and approved by Sam’s Club in Puerto Rico as the manufacturer for its private label Members Mark brand of paint/primer which will go on sale there later this month.

She said Master Paints have been selling in Sam’s Club in Puerto Rico for two years as well as in Home Depot and other large hardware stores on the island. Overall, she said their products are in 150 stores, include 18 Walmart locations.

The difference in paint sales in Puerto Rico and the U.S. are different, Rivera said. In Puerto Rico, Master Paints puts one of their own trained sales people in each Walmart Store and Sam’s Club to consult with the customers.

“This is our employee. They are color experts and can answer typical consumer questions. They use our own calibrating machine to mix the paints to the customer’s satisfaction. This is done at our expense. Walmart is getting free labor out of this deal, but we sell a lot of paint using this system and the customers get professional service at a discount price,” Rivera said.

In the U.S. a typical hourly worker covers the paint department and they may have no color or paint expertise to speak of given the way Walmart rotates hourly workers around the store.

“We don’t want to radically transform how Walmart U.S. runs its paint business, for now we would just like to give U.S. shoppers an opportunity to purchase eco-friendly paint with a green footprint,” she said.

Master Paints employs 172 workers which includes the sales force in the stores and clubs.

At Sam’s Club, Rivera said the paint is sold in 5-gallon pails for $94.88 throughout the year. During peak season, which runs from October through December, custom color paint is sold at Sam’s for $20 per gallon. This paint is mold and fungus proof with low VOC. In Walmart Stores in Puerto Rico the Eco-Pure paint is sold by the gallon at $25, and while the retailer is not a paint destination, she said comp sales grew by 30% after Walmart picked up their paints.

“I am hopeful Wal-Mart U.S. will work with us in the future as they say they’re looking for U.S. made products that have low negative ecological impacts and that’s what we at Master Paints can offer,” she said.