Pet Food in the U.S., 9th Edition : Packaged Facts

In the post-recession pet food world, acquisitions and capital investments promise to reshape the U.S. pet food market. During 2010, Procter & Gamble/Iams acquired holistic pet food maker Natura, Nestlé Purina bought fast-growth treats maker Waggin’ Train, and Del Monte was snapped up by a group of investors including KKR for the tidy sum of $5.3 billion. As the early 2011 acquisition of Petmate by private equity firm Wind Point Partners makes clear, this keen interest in all things pet is industry-wide, with smaller companies also receiving capital infusions. Breathing additional dynamism into the market are health-related marketing and product development initiatives including a wave of grain-free pet foods, new weight-loss foods and programs from major market forces including Hill’s and Purina, and a flood of additional special diet and condition-specific functional foods and treats that takes the notion of pet pampering to a new level.

Pet Food in the U.S., 9th Edition : Packaged Facts