**Exhibit 31.1**

**Certification Pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 for the Chief Executive Officer**

| I, Thomas W. Dickson, certify that: |
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| 1.                                  | I have reviewed this annual report on Form 10-K of   Ruddick Corporation; |
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| 2.                                  | Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain   any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact   necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under   which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period   covered by this report; |
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| 3.                                  | Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and   other financial information included in this report, fairly present in all   material respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash   flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report; |
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| 4.                                  | The registrant’s other certifying officer and I are   responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and   procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and   internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules   13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the registrant and have: |
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|                                |   | (a) | Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or   caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our   supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the registrant,   including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within   those entities, particularly during the period in which this report is being   prepared; |
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|                                |   | (b) | Designed such internal control over financial   reporting, or caused such internal control over financial reporting to be   designed under our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the   reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial   statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted   accounting principles; |
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|                                |   | (c) | Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant’s   disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this report our   conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and   procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report based on such   evaluation; and |
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|                                |   | (d) | Disclosed in this report any change in the   registrant’s internal control over financial reporting that occurred during   the registrant’s most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant’s fourth fiscal   quarter in the case of an annual report) that has materially affected, or is   reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant’s internal control   over financial reporting; and |
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| 5.                                  | The registrant’s other certifying officer and I have   disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over   financial reporting, to the registrant’s auditors and the audit committee of   the registrant’s board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent   functions): |
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|                                |   | (a) | All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses   in the design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which   are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant’s ability to record,   process, summarize and report financial information; and |
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|                                |   | (b) | Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves   management or other employees who have a significant role in the registrant’s   internal control over financial reporting. |