As is tradition, CGT presents a list of the top 100 publicly-traded consumer goods companies, ranked by annual revenue. All in all, most companies on the top 100 list experienced respectable growth in 2007, creating a solid foundation for survival and even growth in a market that is increasingly challenged by adverse economic factors.

Complementary to the top 100 list are smaller lists across nine verticals, plus a list of leading retailers, and a year-in review of news headlines that affected individual companies and the industry as a whole in 2007/2008. Plus, Wall Street analysts weigh in on market trends across a couple of the larger categories.

While the methodology for the Consumer Goods Registry resulted in some obvious omissions (Georgia-Pacific and Mars Inc. are absent), CGT's process ensures an accurate and fair representation of the market. Here is a breakdown of the rules used to determine the players:

Company Rank: 2007 annual revenue or the equivalent is used to determine the ranking order on each list. Financial information was sourced from the companies' annual reports, Web sites and press releases. Revenue for each company is reported in U.S. dollars. The revenue that was originally reported in currency other than U.S. dollars was subject to live exchange rates at press time, which was Oct. 9, 2008. Annual sales growth gains or losses were rounded to the nearest whole number percent. This year, the top grower in each category is called out to grant well-deserved attention.

Company Inclusion: Since revenue figures for most private companies are not readily available, the list only includes publicly-traded companies. Thus, large and well-known companies such as the aforementioned Georgia-Pacific and Mars Inc. are absent. You may also notice that companies ranked last year, like Kellwood Company and The Clarins Group, do not appear on this year's list. They underwent privatization in 2007.

Slicing and Dicing: In the case of holding companies and companies that sell in more than one vertical (PepsiCo, Unilever, etc.),  the company or appropriate subsidiary is ranked in the vertical that accounts for the majority of sales. For example, with brands like Moet and Christian Dior Perfumes, the LVMH Group operates in the beverage and HBA. But, since the majority of its sales came from its fashion and leather goods businesses, the company appears on the Apparel list. Also, only sales from over-the-counter and consumer products businesses appear on the pharmaceutical list. 

Mergers, De-mergers and Acquisitions: Deals that took place in 2008 were not considered. For example, Cadbury Schweppes plc completed the de-merger of its Americas Beverages business to Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc. in May 2008 and is now known as Cadbury plc. However, sales are reported from the previously combined entity that conducted operations throughout 2007.

Top 100 Consumer Goods Companies
The following chart ranks the top-performing, publicly-traded consumer goods companies by annual revenue. Where does your company rank?

	COMPANY	2007 SALES (millions)
1	Nestle SA	$95,479*
2	The Procter & Gamble Company	$76,500
3	Altria Group Inc	$72,801
4	Unilever plc	$54,982*
5	British American Tobacco	$45,232*
6	Japan Tobacco Inc.	$40,401
7	PepsiCo Inc.	$39,474
8	Kraft Foods Inc.	$37,241
9	The Coca-Cola Company	$28,857
10	PPR	$27,018*
11	Tyson Foods Inc.	$26,900
12	Imperial Tobacco Group	$25,168*
13	3M	$24,500
14	L'Oreal SA	$23,372*
15	LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton	$22,533*
16	InBev	$19,730*
17	Whirlpool Corporation	$19,408
18	Anheuser-Busch Companies Inc.	$18,989
19	SABMiller plc	$18,620
20	Kimberly-Clark Corporation	$18,266
21	Henkel KGaA	$17,883*
22	Heineken N.V.	$17,177*
23	NIKE Inc.	$16,326
24	Kirin Holdings Co. Ltd.	$15,779
25	AB Electrolux	$15,539
26	Asahi Breweries Ltd.	$14,597*
27	Johnson & Johnson (Consumer Segment)	$14,493
28	adidas Group	$14,083*
29	Colgate-Palmolive Company	$13,790
30	FEMSA	$13,516
31	GE Consumer & Industrial	$13,332
32	Group Danone	$12,776*
33	General Mills	$12,442
34	Sara Lee Corporation	$12,300
35	BSH Bosch und Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH	$12,060*
36	ConAgra Foods Inc.	$12,028
37	Smithfield Foods Inc.	$11,911
38	Dean Foods Co.	$11,822
39	Kellogg Company	$11,776
40	Masco Corporation	$11,770
41	Kao Corporation	$10,435
42	Diageo plc	$10,228*
43	Avon Products Inc.	$9,939
44	Nintendo Company Ltd.	$9,682*
45	Reynolds American Inc.	$9,023
46	H.J. Heinz Company	$9,002
47	Land O'Lakes Inc.	$8,925
48	Pernod Ricard	$8,807*
49	Carlsberg Group	$8,215*
50	Cadbury Schweppes plc	$7,971
51	Campbell Soup Company	$7,867
52	Pilgrim's Pride Corporation	$7,599
53	Beiersdorf AG	$7,543*
54	VF Corporation	$7,219
55	The Estée Lauder Companies Inc.	$7,038
56	The Black & Decker Corporation	$6,563
57	OSRAM gmbH	$6,414*
58	Newell Rubbermaid Inc.	$6,407
59	Hormel Foods Corporation	$6,193
60	Molson Coors Brewing Corporation	$6,191
61	GlaxoSmithKline (Consumer Healthcare)	$6,049*
62	Grupo Modelo S.A.B. de C.V.	$6,036*
63	Grupo Bimbo	$5,994*
64	Mattel Inc.	$5,970
65	Shiseido Company Limited	$5,882
66	Scottish & Newcastle plc	$5,673*
67	Novartis (Consumer Health Division)	$5,426
68	Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company	$5,389
69	Parmalat Group	$5,283*
70	Reckitt Benckiser	$5,269
71	Constellations Brands Inc.	$5,216
72	The Hershey Company	$4,947
73	The Clorox Company	$4,847
74	Chiquita Brands International Inc.	$4,663
75	Jarden Corporation	$4,660
76	Bandai Namco Holdings Inc.	$4,600*
77	Liz Clairborne Inc.	$4,577
78	Foster's Group Ltd.	$4,555
79	The Stanley Works	$4,484
80	Hanesbrands Inc.	$4,475
81	Levi Strauss & Co.	$4,361
82	Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation	$4,295
83	Groupe SEB	$3,927*
84	Hasbro	$3,838
85	Jones Apparel Group Inc.	$3,793
86	Bayer Healthcare (Consumer Care)	$3,599*
87	Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc.	$3,366
88	Energizer Holdings Inc.	$3,365
89	Coty Inc.	$3,300
90	Electronic Arts Inc.	$3,091
91	Hunter Douglas Group	$3,028
92	Brown-Forman Corporation	$2,086
93	Wyeth (Consumer Healthcare)	$2,736
94	Coach Inc.	$2,612
95	Quicksilver Inc.	$2,426
96	Phillips-Van Heusen Corporation	$2,425
97	Brown Shoe Company Inc.	$2,360
98	Hermes Group	$2,222*
99	Church & Dwight Co. Inc.	$2,221
100	Valentino Fashion Group S.p.A.	$2,147