LAKELAND, FL - No stranger to topping lists that tout the best in retail, Publix has once again clenched a top spot. The Florida-based grocer has ranked number one among Fortune magazine’s list of the World’s Most Admired Companies in the food and drug stores industry category.

Based on ratings calculated from thousands of businesspeople within each of the 52 industries Fortune has selected, the list of the World's Most Admired Companies asks respondents to rate companies in their own industry on nine criteria. According to Fortune’s website, these criteria include investment value and quality of management and products to social responsibility and ability to attract talent.

Only six food and drug stores made the list, which is as follows for the category:

• 1. Publix Super Markets
• 2. Walgreens Boots Alliance
• 3. Kroger
• 4. Sprouts Farmers Market
• 5. George Weston
• 6. Smart & Final Stores

Publix is a frequent guest star on Fortune’s best of the best lists. According to Fortune’s profile on Publix, the retailer has spent 23 separate years on the highly respected Fortune 500 list, reaching number 87 in its last edition. The company also climbed from number 67 to 21 on the magazine’s most recent list of 100 Best Companies to Work For, and number 317 on its last Global 500 list.

To delve into the list yourself and explore other industry’s rankings, check out http://fortune.com/worlds-most-admired-companies. And stay tuned as AndNowUKnow keeps reporting on the best and brightest in retail!

Publix Supermarkets