LAKELAND, FL - Great Place To Work® and PEOPLE® magazine have honored Publix as one of the 2026 PEOPLE Companies that Care. The list highlights top U.S. companies that are successful in business while demonstrating respect, care, and concern for their employees, communities, and the planet.

“At Publix, we are committed to supporting our associates and giving back to the communities we serve,” said Publix Director of Communications Maria Brous in the recent release. “Our founder, George Jenkins, set an example of caring for both associates and the community, and we’re honored to continue a legacy of service that values people, strengthens communities and remains central to who we are more than 95 years later.”

Care for associates

Publix is committed to being a great place to work and offers an extensive benefits package. From company ownership to a promote-from-within culture, Publix believes in investing in its associates. Publix is also the largest employee-owned company in the U.S., offering associates the opportunity to become company owners through its employee stock ownership plan, 401(k) plan, and employee stock purchase plan.

Care for neighbors in need

The company takes its role as a responsible member of its communities seriously. Helping care for our neighbors is at the heart of what Publix is. Through the Good Together food donation program, Publix provides safe, unsold food from its deli, grocery, meat, and produce departments to Feeding America partner food banks and the local agencies they serve. Publix donated over 140 million pounds of food in 2025, a single-year record for the program, which began in 2009.

Care for the environment

Publix believes caring for the environment means both improving its operations and supporting projects that help restore and protect natural resources.

In 2025, the company recycled more than 800 million pounds of materials, including 616 million pounds of cardboard, which equates to saving 5.3 million trees, 2.2 billion gallons of water, and 2.8 million barrels of oil.

This April, customers and associates donated nearly $2 million during Publix’s Good Together environmental campaign. Since the campaign launched in 2024, donations raised in Florida have funded initiatives protecting the state’s waterways and coastlines, including the removal of nearly 65,000 pounds of harmful marine debris through the National Park Foundation and FORCE BLUE. In the company’s other seven operating states, campaign donations helped plant over 1.7 million trees to rebuild forests through the Arbor Day Foundation.

Methodology

Great Place To Work selected the 2026 PEOPLE Companies that Care List by gathering and analyzing nearly 970,000 confidential survey responses from employees working at Great Place To Work Certified organizations that are eligible for this list. Rankings are partly based on 60 employee experience questions within the Great Place To Work Trust Index Survey, and essays submitted by participating companies also factored into the rankings.

VALENCIA, CA - The back-to-school season is in full swing, and backpacks, notebooks, and pencils are certainly not the only thing on parents' shopping lists as they prepare. Continuing to focus on nutrition, shoppers are turning to fresh produce to fuel students' bodies and minds as they head back to the classroom. Cassie Howard, Senior Director of Category Management and Marketing at Sunkist Growers, recently shared what seasonal opportunities are arising in the citrus sector, and how retailers can make the most of them.

“Back-to-school marks a natural reset in family routines, and citrus fits right into that shift - lunchboxes, hydration, breakfast, and healthier snacking are all top of mind for parents as schedules pick back up,” Cassie explains. “Fresh-squeezed juice or quartered Valencia oranges and grapefruit make an easy, nutritious addition to the breakfast table, reinforcing a healthy start to the day alongside lunches and snacks. This period also serves as an important bridge for Sunkist, connecting our summer citrus programs to the kickoff of the new California season later in the fall.”

Back-to-school also creates an important opportunity across foodservice, particularly as schools prepare to serve students consistently throughout the academic year.

“For school foodservice programs, back-to-school is about more than returning to a routine. It’s an opportunity to help students build healthy habits through fresh, familiar options they already know and enjoy,” says Courtney Carlton, Director, Foodservice Sales at Sunkist Growers. “Citrus can be incorporated across breakfast and lunch programs in a variety of ways, and clear communication between suppliers and foodservice partners is essential to delivering the quality and consistency schools expect.”

In addition to traditional citrus offerings, Sunkist is helping schools diversify their fresh fruit selections with options such as Cara Cara oranges and Sunkist Cali™ mandarins, delivering variety, convenience and great taste for students.

Retailers can lean into convenience-forward merchandising to make the most of this promotional window; for example, pairing easy-peel mandarins and grab-and-go formats with back-to-school displays can inspire impulse purchases and increased demand, while using in-store storytelling to reinforce freshness and quality at a moment when shoppers are actively rebuilding their routines.

As Cassie emphasizes, timing and relevance are everything, with back-to-school season creating ample opportunities for fresh produce.

“We recommend cross-merchandising citrus alongside complementary back-to-school categories - think lunchbox staples, snacks, or beverages - to inspire bigger baskets and easier meal planning,” Cassie advises. “Eye-level displays featuring seasonal varietals help drive trial, and bold, simple signage that clearly communicates freshness and nutrition (like vitamin C benefits) resonates well with busy parents making quick decisions at shelf.”

Sunkist continues to wield its longstanding legacy to bring new experiences to the fresh sector. This year, the company launched a fully redesigned Sunkist.com built around ‘Welcome to the Co-Op,’ giving shoppers deeper access to grower stories, recipes, and wellness content.

“Heritage and trust are a big differentiator for us. We're the most recognized name in the citrus category, and our latest brand tracking shows unaided awareness climbing year-over-year, one of the strongest gains among tracked citrus brands, with little movement across the competition,” Cassie adds. “Combine that with our ‘Welcome to the Co-Op’ platform - which connects shoppers directly to the multi-generational farming families behind the fruit - and Sunkist has both the recognition and the authentic story to stand out as fall programming ramps up.”

With this consumer strategy already in play, Sunkist is continuing to drive category growth through its premium portfolio and retail support.

“We're seeing strong momentum at the category level. Citrus sales and volume are both up season-to-date, outpacing flat performance in total produce and total fruit over the same period. We're also rolling out a new Orange pallet bin this season, featuring an eye-catching grove design to drive brand visibility at store level and reinforce our ‘Welcome to the Co-Op’ message at shelf,” Cassie explains.

As the fall season quickly approaches, Sunkist is leaning into an annual partnership and expanding its program to increase opportunities for its retail partners.

“Building on the idea of cause marketing and long-term habit building—something we've seen resonate deeply with shoppers—fall also kicks off Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and Sunkist's Power with the Pink Orange™ partnership with National Breast Cancer Foundation returns this season, pairing Cara Cara oranges with a cause our retail partners and consumers have really rallied behind,” Cassie continues. “This year, we're expanding the program into our Organic Cara Cara line, giving retailers a new way to bring the campaign to shelf. We're also continuing to invest in habit-building with the next generation - our Captain & Cat classroom partnership brings citrus education directly to young families, reinforcing healthy choices early and building brand affinity that lasts well beyond the fall season.”

There are tons of ways to tap into citrus demand all season! For the latest updates straight from the citrus sector, be sure to leave a tab open to AndNowUKnow.

IMMOKALEE, FL - As children head back to school, Lipman Family Farms lives its Good From The Ground Up® commitment by handing out more than 5,000 backpacks to children in communities where its employees live and work. What started with a single event in Immokalee, Florida, is now a 16-year Lipman tradition that brings back-to-school necessities to students in 12 cities.

Lipman’s founder, Max Lipman, could not read or write. As he built the company that became Lipman Family Farms, he made sure his children got the education he never had. Nearly a century later, thousands of kids start the year ready to learn, with backpacks, supplies and food, thanks to the help of Lipman Family Farms and many community partners.

According to a press release, the company’s annual backpack giveaway brings all three of its philanthropic pillars together: children, education and hunger relief.

“Kids who are equipped and fed are ready to learn,” said Elyse Lipman, CEO of Lipman Family Farms. “Prepared kids who are excited about the coming year is reason enough to do what we do, but we’re also building strong communities by supporting tomorrow’s community leaders with good food, caring people and strong schools.”

On Saturday in Immokalee, Lipman distributed roughly 1,900 backpacks to local students. With assistance from partner organizations, the event also supplied 1,300 pairs of shoes, 300 bikes and 300 gift cards.

In Knoxville, Tennessee, the second-largest Lipman giveaway event, nearly 700 backpacks were distributed. In Hendersonville, North Carolina, over 600 backpacks were handed out. 

Other events around North America are being held this month in Arizona, California, Texas, Central Florida, Colorado, New Jersey, and Sonora, Mexico.

Lipman relies on many local partners who make the backpack giveaway possible. At tables and tents, these collaborators provide resources, health information, food and more. In Immokalee, Healthcare Network was on-site to provide health screenings, dental and medical information, socks and giveaways.

“We were thrilled to spend the day with families getting ready for school,” said Jamie Ulmer, CEO of Healthcare Network, a presenting sponsor of the backpack giveaway in Immokalee. “Together, we’re giving local kids a great start.”

To nourish students as they begin the school year, Harry Chapin Food Bank offered donated produce, meat, canned goods and other food items.

“Lipman Family Farms understands that when children have access to nutritious food, they are better prepared to learn, grow, and succeed,” said Jennifer Denike, chief development officer of Harry Chapin Food Bank. “Through this partnership, families receive the school supplies they need to start the year strong, along with nutritious food that helps put meals on the table. Together, we are addressing immediate needs while helping children arrive at school ready to learn and succeed.”

Many organizations that work with Lipman on its backpack giveaway are year-round partners. Boys & Girls Clubs spearhead backpack assembly and logistics in multiple markets to make events successful. Lipman and Boys & Girls Clubs team up for a variety of community and funding initiatives. Earlier this year, Lipman committed $2 million to Harry Chapin Food Bank, and Lipman donates more than a million pounds of produce annually. Lipman’s employees volunteer with Harry Chapin Food Bank and like-minded organizations to assemble holiday meals and support food distributions.

Lipman Family Farms is proud to be a part of the back-to-school season in many communities, and the company is grateful to live its Good From the Ground Up values.

SALINAS, CA - Inteligistics, a leader in digital transformation and AI for the fresh food industry, today announced the launch of its Inteligistics Enterprise suite. This new all-inclusive offering integrates the company’s complete portfolio of visibility and quality management solutions into a single, powerful ecosystem. Designed to simplify technology adoption and management, the suite is available under one predictable annual subscription with no per-user, per-report, or hidden licensing fees.

The offering directly addresses the industry’s need for a holistic, integrated data strategy that enhances produce quality and food safety from the field to the retail shelf, according to a press release. By unifying its solutions, Inteligistics empowers companies to break down information silos and leverage real-time data to drive efficiency, reduce waste, and build more resilient supply chains, all while enhancing product quality and improving food safety.

“We’ve seen the industry struggle with fragmented technology, which creates blind spots and makes it difficult to manage costs and quality effectively. Inteligistics Enterprise is our commitment to simplifying that journey,” said Gary Fleming, CEO of Inteligistics. “This suite provides the tools to not only maintain the cold chain but to use that data to fundamentally improve product quality, increase throughput, and achieve a clear, predictable return on investment.”

The Inteligistics Enterprise suite consolidates the company’s proven solutions into a seamless platform, creating a single source for perishable product management from field trucks to customers’ DC to retail shelf.

The Inteligistics Enterprise suite consolidates the company’s proven solutions into a seamless platform, including:

• InteliView: The central cloud and data hub that unifies all operational data for end-to-end visibility that provides one-click FSMA 204 compliance.
• InteliCool: An industry-leading patented pre-cooling optimization solution that ensures uniform cooling to maximize the quality and extend the shelf-life of high-value produce, while increasing throughput and reducing costs.
• InteliTrack: The pallet-level Full visibility and Traceability enterprise-wide.
• InteliShip: A real-time, in-transit monitoring solution providing live location and temperature tracking to protect product integrity from the cooler to the distribution center and the third mile.
• InteliMonitor: A facility monitoring solution that safeguards inventory with continuous, automated temperature and humidity tracking throughout cold storage warehouses.
• InteliDock: An efficiency tool that streamlines dock operations by analyzing performance to reduce wait times, save energy, and improve labor management.

A core strength of the Enterprise suite is its ability to seamlessly interface with third-party ERP, WMS, and other essential business systems. This open architecture ensures that the rich data collected by IoT devices aided by AI technology can be leveraged across the entire organization to inform inventory, logistics, and sales decisions. This level of integration is critical for reducing the costs of recalls and meeting the stringent demands of the FDA’s Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Rule 204 today.

“A digital platform delivers its greatest value when it can communicate and provide operational insights across the entire supply chain, including with existing ERP and WMS systems. Our incorporation of AI into our Enterprise Suite does just that. What’s more, today our Enterprise Site is architected for full FSMA 204 traceability from the moment a product is harvested,” explained Lawrence Mallia, Inteligistics’ VP, AI Strategy & Product Solutions.

“The current situation with Cyclospora recalls highlights the devastating economic impact of broad, untargeted market withdrawals. With our system, companies can achieve carton-level traceability, enabling surgical recalls that protect consumers without destroying confidence in an entire company or commodity. This transforms a regulatory burden into a powerful tool for risk management and brand protection, resulting in overall cost reduction,” added Fleming.

The Inteligistics Enterprise suite is available now leveraging substantial economy of scale and can be custom configured and tailored to each company’s facilities and needs, from single-site operations to global enterprises.