Business of Food & Beverage

Coca-Cola and Smucker Are Top U.S. Companies for Boosting Talent

Dec. 4, 2023

The American Opportunity Index rates America's 250 largest public companies on how they help their workers get ahead.

Coca-Cola is No. 1 and J.M. Smucker is right behind it in a new American Opportunity Index, rating America's 250 largest public companies on how they help their workers get ahead. And that’s all the food or beverage companies in the top 15.

The yearlong project, which was announced last week, included economists and data scientists and is a collaboration of The Burning Glass Institute, Harvard Business School’s Managing the Future of Work Project and Howard Schultz's Schultz Family Foundation.

The index measures how well America’s largest companies drive economic mobility and positive career outcomes for their employees — “actions that also can help fuel business performance,” the group explains.

The economic-mobility index rates the companies "on real-world outcomes of their employees in roles open to non-college graduates — not merely their statements on corporate policy." The scorecard draws on "a new source of insight: big-data analysis of career histories, job postings, and salary sources of more than 3 million workers at those firms."

The list includes financial services, technology and retail firms. W.W. Grainger and PNC Financial Services were right behind the two food companies. Chipotle Mexican Grill came in 15th and PepsiCo 19th. Last year, the top three were AT&T, American Express and Cisco.

About the Author

Dave Fusaro | Editor in Chief

Dave Fusaro has served as editor in chief of Food Processing magazine since 2003. Dave has 30 years experience in food & beverage industry journalism and has won several national ASBPE writing awards for his Food Processing stories. Dave has been interviewed on CNN, quoted in national newspapers and he authored a 200-page market research report on the milk industry. Formerly an award-winning newspaper reporter who specialized in business writing, he holds a BA in journalism from Marquette University. Prior to joining Food Processing, Dave was Editor-In-Chief of Dairy Foods and was Managing Editor of Prepared Foods.