Dive Brief:
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Five of Fortune's Most Admired Food and Drug Store Companies for 2017 are primarily focused on food retailing. The Walgreens Boots Alliance tops the list there.
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Whole Foods is the only one that also made the overall Top 50, spanning all kinds of companies.
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The top grocer in the specific category is Kroger, followed by Publix, Whole Foods, Smart & Final Stores, and Royal Ahold Delhaize.
Dive Insight:
The Food and Drug Stores category in Fortune's most admired companies list includes retailers that focus on every popular store format today, ranging from drug stores to supermarkets to natural and organic groceries. They all have one purpose in common: Focus on providing excellent public service and fair prices.
The top six companies in this category are as diverse as they come – from Whole Foods to Smart & Final, a West Coast based operation that includes a cash and carry division. While all of Smart & Final's stores are open to retailers, restaurant operators and consumers alike, the cash and carry division's stores are, by design, as plain and straight-forward as a food retailer can be. Their prices, listed in “units” that may represent anywhere from a few pounds to more than 40 pounds, are astonishingly low.
At the other end of the spectrum, Whole Foods has set new standards in the “fresh as possible” and décor categories. On the other hand, Food Lion, which is part of the Royal Ahold Delhaize group, seems to have ever-present service issues. But Food Lion scores very high in one category: its contributions to good causes and to food pantries.
Other Most Admired Companies do that as well, which probably what pushed them to their high rankings. That, and closely watching their bottom lines.