Who Owns Your Brand of Pet Food? ….And Why You Should Care
Pet food is big business.
In fact, 95% of the brands that you see in the pet food aisles are owned
by just 6 companies. And these 6 companies account for almost 90% of consumer
spending on pet food. We believe that it’s important
to know the companies that are behind the various brands of pet food. Following
are the six largest pet food companies.
1. Mars Petcare, part of the Mars Candy company,
leads the way. Mars owns 41 brands which
include: Evo, Cesar, Eukanuba, IAMS,
Nutro, Pedigree, and Royal Canin. Mars also owns the largest chain of
veterinary clinics and hospitals.
2. Nestlé Purina is a close second. They own 30
brands which include: Merrick, Alpo,
Beneful, Beyond, Castor & Pollux, Chef Michael’s (who is a fictional
person), Fancy Feast, Friskies, Purina and Zukes.
3. J.M Smuckers, the jam company, is relatively new
to pet food having recently acquired several companies. They own 14 brands
which include: 9 Lives, Gravy Train, Kibble ‘n Bits, Meow Mix, Milk-Bone,
Milo’s Kitchen, and Rachael Ray Nutrish. They sold off Natural Balance in 2020
to a capital management company.
4. Hill’s Science Diet is owned by Colgate-Palmolive.
They have four brands: Science Diet, Prescription Diet, Ideal Balance, and
Healthy Advantage.
5. Diamond Pet Foods is high on the list because they
are a co-packer and manufacture food for a wide variety of other companies.
Brands owned by Diamond include Diamond Naturals, Nutra-Gold, and Taste of the
Wild.
6. Blue Buffalo is owned by General Mills. There are many different formulas and
specialty diets that all fall under the Blue Buffalo umbrella.
Many companies “co-pack” their foods. This means that a
different manufacturer produces, bags, labels and ships the food. So the company that actually puts together
the final product is a business you have never heard of. This explains why a recall often affects
numerous brands.
Given the enormous array of choices in pet food today – how
do you decide what to feed your dog or cat? After all, what you put in your pet’s
body is the single most important factor affecting their health. Of course, you want a food that is safe,
nutritious, and will promote good health.
It should be easy for the consumer to look at the label and find out all
the information they need to know. But
it’s not.
The pictures and wording on the front of a bag of food tells
you absolutely nothing about the ingredients or the quality of the food inside
the bag. The label will not tell you where
the ingredients came from. There is an
enormous difference between wild-caught Salmon using environmentally
sustainable fishing practices and dead, decomposing farm-raised salmon. The FDA allows many questionable and unsafe
ingredients to be included in pet food. They even state that, "We do not
believe that the use of diseased animals and animals that have died other than
by slaughter to make animal food poses a safety concern."
The key is trust. Do
you trust the people behind the company?
There are many smaller, independently owned pet food companies. Smaller is sometimes better, although that’s
not to say that a larger company can’t be good. However, smaller brands often
have more control over their food supply sources along with a deep commitment
to high-quality nutrition, humane sourcing, and environmentally conscious
practices.
Your dog or cat is completely dependent on YOU to ensure
that the food they eat isn’t doing more harm than good. Don’t depend on pet
food companies or government regulators to have your dog’s or cat’s best
interests at heart. The more you know
about where your dog’s food is coming from and how it gets to his bowl, the
better.