Does Walmart have a butcher and deli? [All You Need To Know]
Walmart prides itself on being able to offer a vast array of goods and services to its millions of everyday customers.
However, you might be wondering if Walmart has a dedicated butcher or deli as part of this commitment to service. Here’s everything I’ve managed to find out!
Does Walmart have a butcher and deli?
Beginning in 2000, Walmart has been phasing out its butcher counters in favor of selling pre-butchered and pre-packaged meat. Walmart still has fresh deli counters in most stores, selling deli meats, cheeses, platters and more.
Read on to learn more!
Why doesn’t Walmart have a butcher anymore?
Instead of butchering and preparing meat in its own stores around 2000, Walmart moved to pre-butchered meat, cut in a separate facility, and packaged for sale.
The position of a butcher is a highly specialized job, and Walmart will presumably no longer consider it a necessary role in its stores.
As of 2020, Walmart also has its own meatpacking plants, which means they now have full control over the meat they sell and where it comes from.
What does Walmart’s deli counter sell?
Walmart’s deli counter specializes in a wide variety of fresh foods. These foods include cheeses, sandwiches and salads, and a variety of meats.
Unlike a butcher, however, a deli counter doesn’t specialize in the slaughter of whole animals, but instead focuses more on “slicing” meat that’s already been prepared.
What time does the Walmart deli counter open and close?
Walmart Deli stores open and close separately from the rest of the broader Walmart store. Their hours are not set in stone across the company, so the deli counter will be open at different times in different stores.
Typically, though, Walmart’s deli is open 8am-10pm in more stores.
However, most deli counters are usually open for at least ten hours a day, and even when closed, a selection of ready-to-eat deli food can be purchased at the counter.
Do other grocery stores have butchers?
While Walmart no longer has many butchers or meat cutters in its stores, many other grocery stores still offer butcher services at most of their locations. These stores include:
- Costco will cut meat to meet most requests.
- Sam’s Club provides basic butcher services. Although Sam’s Club is owned by Walmart, they focus on better quality goods and services.
- Safeway offers a dedicated butcher service.
Are Walmart deli prices higher than the rest of the store?
Food at the deli counter is often more expensive than the average produce elsewhere in the store because the produce is fresh and requires an entirely separate team of staff to maintain and prepare them, adding significantly to labor costs.
Not only that, cooked food is of better quality, fresher, and therefore more valuable, but also closer to perdition, so it must be valued accordingly.
To learn more, you can also check out my post on where Walmart gets its chicken and beef and whether they sell halal meat.
in conclusion
No. Most Walmart stores don’t have a dedicated butcher ready to cut the meat. Walmart stores do have deli counters, which require additional labor to ensure the product stays fresh and to a high standard, so prices go up.
