Top 100: Grow Focused

“Low-carb dieting hasn’t impacted Hershey,” notes Growe, although he is not surprised. “Consumers seem to be counting carbs in their main meals but not in their snacking.”

All agreed that the real issue, and a critical one for the industry to deal with, is obesity. In the eyes of analysts, low-carb and obesity are indicative of deeper financial issues.

“The industry is subject to new risks based on consumer dietary concerns that may have been there before but are more evident now,” says Erin Smith, analyst with Argus Research.

The obesity issue is a sign that companies can no longer count on growth by increasing volume in developed markets, says Cecil. They will have to grow either by finding new ways to add value or by taking share from competitors.

And the Wal-Mart effect is not new, but it certainly is not abating ... especially in a year in which the company’s top suppliers will have to initiate radio frequency identification programs to aid the giant retailer’s inventory. The underlying issue is margin compression, Cecil says. Big buyers and limited-assortment formats have the clout to get food manufacturers to deal on price, thus pressuring their profit margins.

Alphabetic index
Adolph Coors Co.	24
Ag Processing Inc.	39
Agropur Cooperative	52
Amalgamated Sugar	92
American Crystal Sugar Co.	77
American Foods Group	82
American Seafoods Group	90
Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc.	6
Associated Milk Producers	61
Aurora Foods Inc.	78
B&G Foods Inc.	93
Birds Eye Foods	73
Brown-Forman Corp.	46
Bush Brothers & Co.	98
Cagles’s Inc.	95
California Dairies Inc.	64
Campbell Soup Co.	14
Canada Bread Co.	100
Cargill Inc.	18
Chiquita	34
Coca-Cola	15
Colgate Palmolive Co.	54
ConAgra Foods Inc.	4
Constellation Brands	29
ContiGroup Cos.	56
CoolBrands International	99
Coors, Adolph Co.	24
Dairy Farmers of America	49
Dannon Co. Inc.	86
Dean Foods	10
Del Monte Foods	37
Dole Food Co. Inc.	20
Dreyers Grand Ice Cream	45
Flowers Foods Inc.	50
Foremost Farms USA	57
Fortune Brands	62
General Mills	9
Gilster-Mary Lee	84
Gold Kist Inc.	42
Golden State Foods	40
Goya Foods Inc.	79
Great Lakes Cheese Co.	68
H.J. Heinz Co.	12
H.P. Hood Inc.	65
Hershey Foods Corp.	23
Hormel Foods Corp.	22
Imperial Sugar Co.	59
International Multifoods Corp.	71
Interstate Bakeries Corp.	25
J. R. Simplot Co.	47
J.M. Smucker Co.	51
Kellogg Co.	19
Keystone Foods	30
Kraft Foods Inc.	1
Lactalis USA/Sorrento	81
Lance Inc.	87
Land O’Lakes Inc.	16
Leprino Foods Co.	44
Lopez Foods Inc.	94
Luigino’s Inc.	96
Malt-O-Meal	88
Maple Leaf Foods	69
Mars Inc.	7
McCormick & Co. Inc.	48
McKee Foods Corp.	67
Michael Foods	53
Miller Brewing Co.	21
Moyer Packing Co.	83
National Dairy Holdings LP	38
National Grape Cooperative	85
Nestle (US & Canada)	5
Ocean Spray Cranberries	66
Otis Spunkmeyer Inc.	97
Parmalat (US & Canada)	35
Pepsico Inc.	3
Perdue Farms	31
Pilgrim’s Pride	33
Pinnacle Foods	80
Prairie Farms Dairy Inc.	63
Procter & Gamble Co.	27
Ralcorp Holdings	55
Riceland Foods Inc.	74
Rich Products Corp.	43
Russell Stover Candies	89
Sanderson Farms	75
Saputo Inc.	32
Sara Lee Corp.	8
Schreiber Foods Inc.	36
Seaboard Companies	41
Seneca Foods Inc.	72
Shamrock Foods Co.	58
Smithfield Foods	13
Smucker, J.M. Co.	51
Sunkist Growers	70
Swift & Co.	11
Townsends Inc.	91
Tyson Foods Inc.	2
Unilever North America	17
Wells’ Dairy	76
Westfarm Foods	60
Weston Foods	26
Wm. Wrigley Co.	28

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