For the second year in a row, Archer Daniels Midland Company has been ranked the world’s most admired company in the food production industry by Fortune magazine.
Fortune’s annual list of the world’s top 500 companies, published in its flagship magazine today, also includes food ingredients giants Ingredion and Monsanto. Considered the definitive report card on corporate reputation, Fortune’s annual list of the World’s Most Admired Companies ranks companies in a number of major industries.
ADM is ranked 87th overall, in the list, which covers all industries. Top companies were Apple, Alphabet, which owns Google, and Amazon.
Ingredion was the second most admired company in the food industry, and came in at 462 overall. Food manufacturers that topped the list include Berkshire Hathaway (4th), which has a major stake in Kraft Heinz, North American’s third largest food manufacturer, Coca-Cola (15th), Nestle (38th), Unilever (41st) and PepsiCo (44th).
“I am deeply proud of our ADM teams for the work they’ve done to earn this distinction,” said Juan Luciano, ADM chairman and CEO. “Our people work tirelessly each day to deliver exceptional value to our customers and shareholders, and the Fortune ranking is a tremendous validation of their efforts.”
Ingredion chairman, president and chief executive officer, Ilene Gordon, said: "We're honored to once again be listed among the world's most admired companies. We strive to create value for all of our stakeholders, and this recognition confirms our achievements.”
Monsanto, which supplies seeds and seed protection to farmers globally, ranked first in its category, Chemical, and 197th overall.
Hugh Grant, Monsanto Chairman and CEO, said: “We are incredibly proud to receive this recognition from FORTUNE for the third year in a row,” said Hugh Grant, Monsanto Chairman and CEO. “This recognition is a direct reflection of the outstanding talent at Monsanto as well as our employees’ passion for developing agricultural solutions to help our farmer customers have better harvests.”
A total of 652 companies from 30 countries were evaluated by 4,000 executives, directors and security analysts. Survey respondents were asked to rate companies in their industry on nine criteria: innovation, people management, use of corporate assets, social responsibility, quality of management, financial soundness, long-term investment value, quality of products and services and global competitiveness.
