Flowers Foods Named 'Best-Managed' Food Company Among the 400 Best Big Companies...

Flowers Foods Named 'Best-Managed' Food Company Among the 400 Best Big
Companies in America

Forbes Magazine puts Thomasville-based Flowers Foods No. 1 among food, drink,
and tobacco companies

THOMASVILLE, Ga., Jan. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Flowers Foods (NYSE: FLO)
has been named the "best-managed" food company among the 400 best big
companies in America by Forbes Magazine.Forbes editors selected Flowers Foods
as the best among the 17 companies in the food, drink, and tobacco category
that made it on to Forbes' annual Platinum 400 list. This is Flowers Foods'
fifth time on the list and the second time the company has been named "best"
in its category.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080530/CLF007LOGO )

To create the list, the magazine looked at more than 1,000 publicly traded
companies with at least $1 billion in revenue and then chose 400 based on
financial metrics, earnings forecasts, corporate governance ratings, and other
public company information. From that list, Forbes editors picked one
best-managed company from each of the 26 industries represented. Forbes
selected these companies not just for their financial performance, but also
for leadership, innovation, and execution.

In addition, Flowers Foods' stock was one of 15 noted by Forbes as holding up
well during recession. Editors looked through the Platinum 400 to see which
stocks performed best in 2008 and during the last recession in 2001.

"We're honored to once again be selected as 'best of the best' among our peers
by Forbes," said George E. Deese, chairman of the board, CEO, and president.
"The entire organization takes pride in our ongoing dedication to executing on
our long-term strategy that continues to build value for our shareholders."

"America's Best Big Companies" appears in the January 12, 2009 issue of Forbes
and online at www.forbes.com/platinum.

Headquartered in Thomasville, Ga., Flowers Foods, with annual sales of over
$2.4 billion, is one of the nation's leading producers and marketers of
packaged bakery foods for retail and foodservice customers. Flowers Foods
operates 38 bakeries that produce a wide range of bakery products marketed
throughout the Southeastern, Southwestern, and mid-Atlantic states via an
extensive direct-store-delivery network and nationwide through other delivery
systems. Among the company's top brands are Nature's Own, Whitewheat,
Cobblestone Mill, Blue Bird, and Mrs. Freshley's. For more information, visit
www.flowersfoods.com.

SOURCE Flowers Foods

Mary A. Krier, VP/Communications of Flowers Foods, +1-229-227-2333