Nestlé tops TIME’s food and drink company ranking

Key takeaways:

• Nestlé is the highest-ranked food and beverage company, placing 78^th on TIME’s global list.
• Drinks businesses occupy nine of the sector’s top 20 places, while Barry Callebaut ranks ahead of Mars.
• Grupo Bimbo places 22^nd among food and beverage companies and 560^th globally.

Nestlé leads the food and beverage companies in TIME and Statista’s World’s Best Companies 2026 ranking. Yet the sector’s top 20 reaches far beyond the names competing for space on supermarket shelves.

Drinks businesses occupy nine places, from brewers and bottlers to spirits and wine groups. Chocolate supplier Barry Callebaut ranks ahead of Mars, while PepsiCo takes the final spot in the sector’s top 20. Ingredient suppliers and distributors also feature, reflecting the breadth of businesses TIME groups under Food & Beverages.

The global ranking covers 1,000 companies, including 46 in that category. Nestlé is the sector’s sole entry in the overall top 100, placing 78^th. Carlsberg follows at 142^nd, with Diageo, Barry Callebaut and Mars completing the food and drink top five.

The order differs from a ranking based on sales or brand value. TIME and Statista weigh employee satisfaction, revenue growth and sustainability transparency equally, bringing businesses with very different products and roles in the supply chain into the same assessment.

Food and drink’s top 20

Each company’s global rank and overall score come from TIME’s published table. The score is out of 100 and combines employee satisfaction, revenue growth and sustainability transparency equally.

1. Nestlé – 78^th globally; score 86.32
2. Carlsberg – 142^nd globally; score 84.75
3. Diageo – 166^th globally; score 84.12
4. Barry Callebaut Group – 187^th globally; score 83.72
5. Mars – 214^th globally; score 83.08
6. Danone – 216^th globally; score 83.05
7. Coca-Cola Europacific Partners – 235^th globally; score 82.79
8. FEMSA – 247^th globally; score 82.59
9. The Coca-Cola Company – 288^th globally; score 81.94
10. Lindt – 293^rd globally; score 81.84
11. Coca-Cola HBC – 305^th globally; score 81.69
12. Bunge – 337^th globally; score 81.07
13. Apetito – 362^nd globally; score 80.68
14. Heineken – 387^th globally; score 80.35
15. Mondelēz International – 397^th globally; score 80.12
16. Ferrero – 430^th globally; score 79.73
17. US Foods – 445^th globally; score 79.48
18. Campari Group – 461^st globally; score 79.33
19. Treasury Wine Estates – 468^th globally; score 79.24
20. PepsiCo – 487^th globally; score 78.98

The three Coca-Cola entries show why company names need careful reading. TIME lists The Coca-Cola Company separately from Coca-Cola Europacific Partners and Coca-Cola HBC, giving the brand owner and two bottling groups their own positions. Both bottlers place above the brand owner.

Chocolate and confectionery run through the list too. Barry Callebaut reaches fourth place in the sector as a supplier to manufacturers. Mars follows in fifth, while Lindt, Mondelēz and Ferrero appear further down. Danone brings dairy into the top six, and Bunge’s presence puts agricultural commodities and ingredients alongside finished food and drink.

And beyond the top 20?

Keurig Dr Pepper is next, ranking 21^st in the food and beverage category and 520th globally. Grupo Bimbo follows in 22^nd place, at 560^th overall, with McCain Foods at 576^th. Other familiar names in the 1,000-company list include Associated British Foods (ABF), Hershey, JM Smucker, Aryzta, Arla Foods, Campbell’s and Dr Oetker.

This is Grupo Bimbo’s third appearance on the list. In announcing the result, the Mexican bakery group pointed to record 2025 net sales and adjusted EBITDA, up 4.6% and 7.2% respectively. It also reported that women held 30% of leadership positions and highlighted its work on renewable electricity and regenerative agriculture.

Under TIME’s methodology, employee satisfaction draws on a survey of more than 200,000 workers. The growth measure considers both absolute and relative revenue gains, while sustainability transparency is assessed through specified environmental, social and governance indicators. Each contributes a third of the final score.

TIME’s list draws a different map of food and drink from the one shoppers see on shelves. Ingredient suppliers sit alongside manufacturers, bottlers appear separately from brand owners, and familiar names are assessed on more than their commercial reach.