Unilever Co.

For the first time in a long time, this year's listing of the top 100 public consumer goods companies tells more good news than bad. The majority of companies realized modest revenue growth despite ongoing economic challenges; and some categories, like Food and Apparel, posted sales gains across the board. Read on to find out how your company, your partners and/or your competitors performed by comparison.

No. 1 player P&G made progress toward its purpose-inspired growth strategy, while Unilever reported gains in its transformation to a sustainable growth company. Most of the companies on this list followed their lead with modest sales gains in 2011.

Apparently, beauty is everything; at least to these companies and their loyal consumers. This market posted growth across the board with innovative health and beauty products and business strategies.

Unilever expects to take advantage of new functionality, one of them being the possibility of collecting photos through the SFA system while doing surveys.

Last week, CGT published a report that names retailers' 10 favorite suppliers. This week, we're turning the tables to bring you a list of the the Top 10 power retailers, ranked by their manufacturing partners. Walmart still reigns, but the gap is narrowing, showing how significantly retailing is changing.

The importance of transformational business and technology initiatives cannot be underestimated in the consumer goods industry. That's why CGT is once again recognizing three consumer goods companies for excellence in supply chain, customer management and mid-market growth strategies.

Retailers again ranked P&G Best of the Best although Unilever made up significant ground on its major rival across a number of individual measures and made the biggest gains. Find out which other suppliers are finding favor with America's top retailers.