Where Great Value Actually Sources Its Milk - Tasting Table

"But even with a third milk plant of its own slated to open in 2026, the retail giant still has to source milk from a myriad of dairy farmers to fill up all those jugs of its house brand Great Value milk. Luckily for curious American consumers who want to know where the milk they buy at Walmart comes from, or perhaps support certain farms, there's a pretty simple way to find out."

"The code will start with two numbers denoting the U.S. state or territory where the milk was produced, followed by a dash and then one to five digits that can be numbers or letters that tell the exact dairy farm where it came from. You may see the letters PLT in front of the code, which stands for "plant." It's helpful to know that the code won't contain a colon."

Supply chain transparency has become a major trend in the food industry, prompting brands to adopt certifications for organic production and fair wages. Food safety benefits from traceability because knowing where an outbreak occurred enables targeted consumer warnings. Walmart has pushed transparency through blockchain, supplier traceability requirements, and expanded in-house milk processing, yet it still sources milk from many dairy farmers. Milk containers display a code identifying the U.S. state and the specific dairy farm involved. The code format uses two numbers for state or territory, a dash, then one to five alphanumeric characters for the farm. PLT may precede the code to indicate the plant, and the code will not contain a colon.

Read at Tasting Table