For those of you old enough to remember that jingle, Nestle a few decades ago wa s largely a chocolate company.

(The jingle ended Nestle makes the very best choco late.) Chocolate and candies remain, but theyre a shrinking part of the giant Swis s company which, at about $104 billion, claims to be the worlds largest food comp any. The official corporate emphasis the past few years has been on nutrition, health and wellness. Since Henri Nestl [a pharmacist] developed the first milk food for infants in 1867, and saved the life of a neighbors child, the Nestl Co. has aimed to build a business as the worlds leading nutrition, health and wellness company based on sound human values and principles, the corporate web site states. I attribute our strong 2008 performance to two key things: Nestle employees, whic h give us our competitive advantage, and our relentless focus on the consumer, sa ys Brad Alford, chairman & CEO of Nestl USA. We are focused on anticipating and re sponding to consumers needs, including making more nutritional choices. The strategy is working. With sales up nearly 14 percent in the past year (we co mbined U.S. and Canadian sales), Nestle USA & Canada completes its multi-year cl imb to the top of our Top 100 list. The Swiss parent also did well. More important than the 2 percent rise in sales (to 109.9 billion Swiss francs) was a 69 percent leap in profit (to 18 billion S wiss francs). If 2008 was the start of the current recession, you cant tell it from at least th e sales activity of the leading food & beverage companies. In what was undeniabl y a year full of challenges, the industry did fairly well. Only one of the 27 la rgest companies on the Food Processing Top 100 reported a decrease in sales, and 16 reported increases in net income, as well. Which, of course, means 11 were fl at or worse off than they were in 2007. Whether you take that as good news or bad news, the undeniably bad news is that five of those companies recorded net losses for 2007, the most weve seen in at le ast six years. Its difficult to figure how much the severe global recession affected the food & beverage industry in 2008, because technically the perfect storm did not hit until the fourth quarter of that year. But it seems everybody felt the recession comi ng, even before it was announced. Skyrocketing commodity and energy costs and th en the sudden tightening of credit contributed to the general malaise. While the food & beverage industry weathered the storm better than most, the recession un deniably took its toll. I attribute our strong 2008 performance to two key things: Nestle employees, which give us our competitive advantage, and our relentless focus on the consumer. We are focused on anticipating and responding to consumers needs, including making more nutritional choices. - Brad Alford, chairman & CEO of Nestl USA All the headline financial troubles of the past year came together to undo Pilgr ims Pride (No. 12). The company filed for court protection under Chapter 11 of th e bankruptcy code just days before unveiling a $999 million loss for its fiscal 2008, which ended Sept. 27, 2008 and that despite increasing sales by nearly a b illion dollars. It was not a good year to be one of the largest chicken companies in the U.S. an d Mexico. First of all, it got so big with an aggressive purchase (in January 20 07) of its chief rival, Gold Kist, for $1.1 billion, following a year in which b oth companies recorded net losses. Some of the debt for that transaction got cau ght up in the credit crunch that coincided with the start of the current recessi on. Plus, Over the past year, Pilgrims Pride has faced a number of significant challen ges including high feed-ingredient costs, an oversupply of chicken, weak market pricing and softening demand, said President/CEO Clint Rivers, who was forced to resign days after the bankruptcy filing. After careful consideration of all avail able alternatives, the companys board of directors determined that a Chapter 11 f iling was a necessary and prudent step. Days later, Don Jackson, president of another competitor, Foster Farms poultry di vision, took over the combined duties of Rivers and COO Robert Wright.

The story was much the same at No. 8 Smithfield Foods. Fiscal 2009 was a year of unprecedented challenges, President/CEO C. Larry Pope wrote in the annual report. The combination of record input costs, an oversupply of hogs, a worldwide recess ion and A(H1N1) influenza led to our first annual loss in more than three decade s. The other top companies recording losses for 2008 all had different reasons: Sar a Lee (No. 16) was still reorganizing. Sophomore Dr Pepper Snapple Group (No. 20 ) was still getting started. Maple Leaf Foods (No. 23) was devastated by a food recall. On the other hand, No. 37 Interstate Bakeries Corp. emerged from four years of b ankruptcy protection on Feb. 3 of this year. Despite its $144 million loss in it s fiscal 2008 (which ended June 2, 2008), the baker of Wonder Bread and Hostess Twinkies got concessions from its unions (in return for some stock) and a buyout by private equity firm Ripplewood Holdings and possibly other investors. On nex t years Top 100 it will show up as a private firm. There are some new names on this list. Anheuser-Busch adds InBev to the end of i ts name, the result of the biggest merger/acquisition of 2008. SAB Miller and Mo lson Coors combined their U.S. operations into No. 27 MillerCoors. Because of it s large Canadian component, Molson Coors remains on our table, but SAB Miller is gone. Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. (last year No. 53) was acquired in October by Mars Inc. Whil e Wrigley has disappeared, since it was not required to file an annual report, Ma rs gures on the table do not include Wrigley sales. The U.S. bakery businesses of Canadas George Weston Ltd. were sold in January 2009 to Mexicos Grupo Bimbo, whic h debuts at No. 29. Weston remains, although a little smaller at No. 52.