Flowers Foods, Inc. (FLO)
Bakeries, 10,300 employees, all U.S. Read October 19, 2026 from the annual report for the period ending January 3, 2026, filed February 25, 2026. Ranked 53 of the 62 Consumer Defensive companies read so far, by the share within reach now.
Within reach now
14%
End of 2028
21%
Employees, annual report
10,300
Leading staffing pattern
Bakeries and Tortilla Manufacturing
Share of the working time within reach, long-run pace, four times in five
- Now14%
- End of 202720%
- End of 202821%
- End of 203021%
What changes for its people by the end of 2028, by its industries' figures
- Stays with people 78%
- Becomes checking a model's work 12%
- Handed over with lighter checks 9%
Flowers Foods states approximately 10,300 employees throughout the U.S. at January 3, 2026, with about 5,500 full-time leased and temporary employees counted apart and 840 under collective bargaining agreements, baking and distributing bread and snacks with no count by kind of work, so one pattern takes the whole workforce at bakeries by description (c).
The figures on this page come from the company's own annual report and from BLS staffing patterns for its industries, never from a roster. They are estimates with a stated method. Nothing here says what the company will do: within reach is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings.
What follows from the reading
Share of working time within reach of AI, on the long-run pace at four in five: 14% now, 20% at the end of 2027, 21% at the end of 2028, 21% at the end of 2030. By the patterns, the work is about 21% desk work, 10% people work and 68% body work. These are the site's industry estimates weighted by the shares below: estimates with a stated method and range, not a forecast of what the company will do. By the same patterns, at the end of 2028 about 78% of the working time stays with people (conversation, in-person and hands-on work), 12% becomes checking a model's work and 9% could be handed over with lighter checks, from the industries' own figures, not the company's roles.
Headcount
10,300 employees as of January 3, 2026 (stated). The filing states that its approximately 10,300 employees are located throughout the U.S.
The filing: “Human Capital Resources As of January 3, 2026, Flowers and its subsidiaries had approximately 10,300 employees located throughout the U.S. and approximately 5,500 full-time leased and temporary employees.”
The workforce as industry patterns
| Pattern | Share | Reason, from the filing |
|---|---|---|
| Bakeries and Tortilla Manufacturing | 100% | The filing describes bakeries baking and distributing bread, buns, rolls and snack cakes (Dave's Killer Bread, Wonder, Tastykake) across the U.S., with no count by kind of work, so one pattern takes the whole workforce at bakeries by description (c). |
What the filing says about the workforce: Approximately 840 employees (8%) covered by collective bargaining agreements; approximately 5,500 full-time leased and temporary employees counted apart; about 475 veterans; over 45% of the Milwaukie bakery's team hired through second chance initiatives.
Companies read with the same leading pattern
Other companies whose largest staffing pattern is also Bakeries and Tortilla Manufacturing, largest first, each read from its own annual report. Within reach now and at the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Mondelez International, Inc. (MDLZ, 91,000 employees)15% now, 23% by 2028
- Krispy Kreme, Inc. (DNUT, 17,000 employees)12% now, 18% by 2028
What the filing says about AI
11 sentences in the filing name AI. The filing says it uses and may expand its use of AI in its business with the risks that brings, and names AI and machine learning as intensifying cybersecurity risks and the pace of cyber-attacks.
- “In addition, the rapid evolution and increased adoption of artificial intelligence ("AI") and machine learning technologies may intensify our cybersecurity risks and make it more difficult to anticipate and implement protective measures to recognize, detect, and prevent the occurrence of any of the cyber events described above.”
- “Further, the technology and techniques used in cyber-attacks are constantly evolving and the pace and extent of that evolution may accelerate with the use of emerging technologies including AI and machine learning.”
- “If we are unable to deploy the ERP system upgrade as planned, the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting could be adversely affected, our ability to assess those controls adequately could be delayed, and our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows could be negatively impacted. 16 We use, and may continue to expand our use of, AI in our business, and cha...”
- “We may leverage AI, including generative AI, in our product development, operations, and software programming.”
- “Our competitors or other third parties may incorporate AI into their operational processes more quickly or more successfully than we do, which could impair our ability to compete effectively and adversely affect our results of operations.”
Its annual reports, year by year
Sentences naming AI in each annual report, counted by one rule, beside the median report in the Index that year. Each count links its filing. Every company, by year and sector
- Fiscal 20210median 0
- Fiscal 20220median 0
- Fiscal 20231median 1
- Fiscal 202411median 4
- Fiscal 202511median 10
Headcount by filing year
As reported in each year's annual report, with the filing. A year marked not read had no figure the reading could take from the report's text.
| Period | Employees | Filed | Filing |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-01-03 | 10,300 | 2026-02-25 | 10-K |
| 2024-12-28 | 10,200 | 2025-02-18 | 10-K |
| 2023-12-30 | 9,300 | 2024-02-21 | 10-K |
| 2022-12-31 | 9,200 | 2023-02-22 | 10-K |
| 2022-01-01 | 8,900 | 2022-02-23 | 10-K |
| 2021-01-02 | 9,200 | 2021-02-24 | 10-K |
| 2019-12-28 | 9,700 | 2020-02-19 | 10-K |
| 2018-12-29 | 9,200 | 2019-02-20 | 10-K |
| 2017-12-30 | 9,800 | 2018-02-21 | 10-K |
| 2016-12-31 | 10,800 | 2017-02-23 | 10-K |
| 2016-01-02 | 10,900 | 2016-02-24 | 10-K |
| 2015-01-03 | 10,380 | 2015-02-25 | 10-K |
| 2013-12-28 | 10,500 | 2014-02-19 | 10-K |
| 2012-12-29 | 9,800 | 2013-02-20 | 10-K |
| 2011-12-31 | 9,400 | 2012-02-29 | 10-K |
| 2011-01-01 | not read | 2011-02-23 | 10-K |
| 2010-01-02 | not read | 2010-03-03 | 10-K |
| 2009-01-03 | not read | 2009-03-04 | 10-K |
| 2007-12-29 | not read | 2008-02-27 | 10-K |
| 2006-12-30 | not read | 2007-02-28 | 10-K |
| 2005-12-31 | not read | 2006-03-01 | 10-K |
| 2005-01-01 | 7 | 2005-03-17 | 10-K |
| 2004-01-03 | 172 | 2004-03-18 | 10-K |
| 2002-12-28 | 280 | 2003-03-28 | 10-K |
| 2001-12-29 | 172 | 2002-03-29 | 10-K |
| 2000-12-30 | 300 | 2001-03-30 | 10-K405 |
Limits of this reading
- About 5,500 full-time leased and temporary employees are counted apart and left out (rule 8); independent distributor partners are not employees.
- No count by kind of work: the one pattern is by description (c); the data service's segment table is for fiscal 2024.
Source: the company's annual report on EDGAR, accession 0001193125-26-071441, the filing. Read by Claude Fable 5.1 under rubric version 1, by the method. A company can write to info@stratussc.com to have its reading checked against its filing.
The report on Flowers Foods, Inc., $29
This page as a document to keep, with what it does not show: the share within reach at every date on three paces and two reliabilities, a typical workforce of this shape at the stated headcount role by role and task by task (the industries' staffing, never the company's roster), where to start, what changes for the people and what they would learn, every sentence in the filing that names AI, the headcount by year, the companies read with the same leading pattern, the method and a citation line. To print or save as a PDF, open again in your browser for a year.
See the report, $29See the sample first: Walmart's report is free
Questions about this company
- How much of Flowers Foods, Inc.'s working time is within reach of AI?
- An estimated 14% now and 21% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five, from the workforce Flowers Foods, Inc.'s own annual report describes and BLS staffing patterns for its industries, never from a roster. It is an estimate with a stated method. It is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings, and it says nothing about what the company will do.
- How many people does Flowers Foods, Inc. employ?
- 10,300 as of January 3, 2026, as its annual report for the period ending January 3, 2026 states. About 100% in the U.S.
- What kinds of work make up Flowers Foods, Inc.'s workforce?
- Read from its annual report as a blend of 1 industry staffing pattern, the largest Bakeries and Tortilla Manufacturing; by those patterns the work is about 21% desk work, 10% people work and 68% body work. Each share has a one-sentence reason on this page that can be checked against the filing.
- What does Flowers Foods, Inc.'s annual report say about AI?
- 11 sentences in the filing name AI. Its annual reports for fiscal 2021 to 2025 name it in 0, 0, 1, 11 and 11 sentences, year by year. They are counted and quoted on this page, never judged: a count says how much a filing talks about AI, not what the company does with it.
- How is this estimated?
- Claude Fable 5.1 read the annual report under the Index's written rubric (version 1) on October 19, 2026: the stated headcount, the share in the U.S. when stated, and the workforce as a blend of industry staffing patterns. The estimates are the site's industry estimates weighted by those shares, from O*NET tasks with estimated lengths and METR's measurements of how long a task AI models can finish. A company can write to info@stratussc.com to have its reading checked against its filing.
Embed these figures on your site
A small card with the share of working time within reach now and at the end of 2027, 2028 and 2030, the date and a link back. Free under CC BY 4.0; the card carries the credit.