Nestlé Purina PetCare facts for kids
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Nestlé Purina Petcare's Headquarters
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| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Pet food |
| Predecessors |
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| Founded | December 12, 2001 St. Louis, Missouri, US |
| Headquarters | 800 Chouteau Ave,
St. Louis, Missouri
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U.S.
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Area served
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Worldwide |
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Key people
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| Products |
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| Brands |
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| Revenue | $11.2 billion (2013) |
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Number of employees
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| Parent | Nestlé S.A. |
Nestlé Purina PetCare Company, often called Purina, is a big company that makes food and products for pets. It's based in St. Louis, Missouri, in the United States. Purina is part of a larger Swiss company called Nestlé.
The company started in 1893 with William H. Danforth. Today, Purina makes many popular pet food brands like Purina Pro Plan, Purina Dog Chow, Friskies, Beneful, and Purina ONE. Purina also sells treats and cat litter. In 2001, Nestlé combined its pet food business, Friskies PetCare Company, with another company called Ralston Purina. This created the Nestlé Purina PetCare Company we know today. By 2012, Purina was the second-largest pet food company in the world and the biggest in the United States.
Contents
How Purina Started
Early Beginnings
In 1894, William H. Danforth and his partners, George Robinson and William Andrews, began a business feeding farm animals. They founded Purina Mills in St. Louis, Missouri. The company's name changed to Ralston Purina in 1902. That same year, Ralston Purina built its first building at its current headquarters in St. Louis.
Nestlé Purina PetCare was officially formed in December 2001. This happened when Nestlé bought Ralston Purina for $10.3 billion. Nestlé then combined Ralston Purina with its own pet food business, Friskies PetCare Company. Before this, Ralston sold brands like Dog Chow, Cat Chow, and Pro Plan. Nestlé made Friskies and Alpo.
Some groups were worried about this merger. They thought it might make the new company too big and reduce competition. However, the Federal Trade Commission approved the merger. This was after some of Ralston's brands, like Meow Mix, were sold to another company. Ralston's location in St. Louis, Missouri, became the main office for the new company in North America.
Growing the Company
After the merger, Nestlé Purina PetCare worked on bringing the two companies together. They moved some dry dog food production to different factories. They also expanded other factories for wet food. In Asia, they changed how they distributed their products. In 2004, Nestlé Purina combined its North American and Latin American operations.
Purina became a very important part of Nestlé's business. By 2006, it was the biggest pet food company in the market.
Recent Developments
By 2009, Purina was one of Nestlé's fastest-growing divisions. This was because people were spending more money on their pets. In 2008, Purina started a separate company called PurinaCare to sell pet insurance. This company was later sold in 2013. By 2009, Purina also started making pet litter products. They built new factories in Russia and Thailand. Their factory in Colorado built the largest privately owned solar panel system in that state. In 2010, Nestlé bought Waggin' Train, a company that makes pet treats.
In 2013, Nestlé Purina PetCare bought Petfinder, a website that helps people adopt pets. The next year, they bought Zuke's, which makes cat and dog treats. Between 2010 and 2012, Nestlé also expanded its factories in Australia, Hungary, and Germany. They also built a large solar panel farm at their facilities in Atlanta, Georgia. In April 2014, Nestlé Purina PetCare opened the first cat café in the US.
In February 2019, the company announced plans to spend $115 million to make its factory in Bloomfield, Missouri, bigger. This was to meet the high demand for Tidy Cats. In November, the company invested $320 million in an old factory in Hartwell, Georgia.
In April 2020, Nestlé Purina PetCare bought Lily's Kitchen. This is a natural pet food brand from the UK.
In November 2020, Nina Leigh Krueger became the new CEO of Purina. She is the first female CEO for Nestlé Purina PetCare in the Americas. In 2023, Nina Krueger was also named Chair of the Pet Food Institute.
In October 2022, Purina opened a new facility in Rayong, Thailand. Also in October, Purina finished expanding its factory in Clinton, Iowa. This expansion created 96 new jobs.
Later in November 2022, Nestlé Purina PetCare announced a partnership with Riceland Foods. They will work together to encourage Riceland farmers to grow rice using sustainable methods starting in 2023. The same year, Purina also partnered with pet-care startups from Europe and North Africa. This was to find more sustainable ways to help pets. Also in 2022, Purina launched new recyclable pouch packages for its pet food. The company wants all its packaging worldwide to be 100% recyclable or reusable.
In 2023, it was shared that Purina's products included dry dog food (30%), wet dog food (4%), dry cat food (19%), wet cat food (32%), and other pet nutrition products (15%). In February 2023, Purina announced plans to buy Red Collar Pet Foods' pet treats factory in Miami.
In October 2023, Purina opened two new production units at its factory in Hungary.
In 2024, Purina PetCare invested €472 million to open a pet food factory in Mantua, Italy. They also opened a new facility in Eden. Later, in May, Purina invested $220 million to increase production in Mexico.
Product Safety and Lawsuits
In 2014, Purina had a legal disagreement with another pet food company, Blue Buffalo. Purina said that Blue Buffalo's ads were misleading. Blue Buffalo claimed its products had no meat byproduct or corn, but Purina's tests showed they did. Blue Buffalo then made similar claims against Purina. An independent review board found that Blue Buffalo's advertising was misleading. Blue Buffalo said they disagreed but would follow the ruling.
In 2015, a lawsuit was filed against Purina about its Beneful dog food. The lawsuit claimed the food caused illnesses in some dogs. However, the judge decided there wasn't enough proof that the food caused the problems.
In 2017, another lawsuit about Purina's Beggin' dog treats was dropped. This lawsuit claimed the advertising made people think the treats were full of bacon.
Product Recalls
Sometimes, companies have to recall products if there's a problem. In 2005, Nestlé Purina Petcare recalled some dry pet food from a factory in Venezuela. This was because internal checks found contaminants that were making pets sick.
In 2007, there were many problems in the pet food market due to contaminated ingredients. During this time, Purina voluntarily recalled some of its Alpo Prime Cuts in Gravy products in the US. These products contained wheat gluten from China that had a substance called melamine.
In August 2013, Purina recalled some of its Purina ONE Beyond dog food. This happened because one bag was found to have salmonella. In 2012, a customer sued Nestlé Purina PetCare after their pet died after eating Waggin' Train treats. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) received many reports from pet owners about these treats. The FDA had warned about these ingredients, but lab tests didn't find contaminants. Later, a petition asked stores to stop selling the product. In 2014, a settlement was reached. The company later brought the brands back after changing how they made the products.
Purina's Products
Purina makes many different pet food brands. Some popular ones that bring in a lot of money include Purina, Purina Dog Chow, Friskies, Purina Beneful, and Purina One. Some brands, like Friskies, are more affordable. Others, like Purina One and Beneful, cost more and are for pet owners who care a lot about health or specific ingredients. Purina One has been one of its fastest-growing brands.
In 2009, the company introduced Fancy Feast Appetizers, a special cat food. A Purina Pro Plan line for older dogs came out in 2010. This food has ingredients to help with brain function and digestion. In 2011, Purina introduced Purina ONE Beyond, a product without grains. Purina Pro Plan Sport, which has extra fat and protein for active dogs, was released in 2013. In 2014, Purina created a product for the Brazilian market called Ravena. This food used local ingredients like acerola and jabuticaba fruits. Purina also started selling accessories like training pads, beds, and leashes in 2011. These are sold under the Purina PetGear name.
Here are some of Purina's important brands and products:
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Marketing and Ads
In the mid-1970s, the Purina Cat Chow brand launched a famous ad campaign called "Chow-Chow-Chow." These TV commercials showed cats that looked like they were dancing. This was done using a clever editing trick. The earliest ads featured actress Patsy Garrett, who became a spokesperson for Cat Chow for many years.
In 2006, Nestlé Purina Petcare created an email app called Doggie-Mail. It could send messages online through a talking dog. In 2009, Purina sponsored PawNation.com, a website with pet videos, tips, and other content. Purina also sponsored Martha Stewart's pet tips website. The company launched an ad campaign for the Alpo brand with the slogan "Real dogs eat meat." These ads showed pampered pets being "rescued" and fed Alpo. This suggested that pets needed to eat real meat. In 2009, Purina released a free iPhone app called "petcentric places." This app helps users find local pet-friendly spots like dog parks or hotels. In 2010, Purina released a Facebook game called Purina Pet Resort. Players could manage a virtual pet resort in the game.
In 2011, Nestlé Purina PetCare became an official sponsor of the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. The company also started a competition for pet owners. The winner could get a part-time job earning $50,000 a year to travel with their cat, interview other pet owners, and write for the Purina website. Nestlé Purina also made TV ads for Austria that had sounds only pets could hear. These were the first ads made directly for pets, not just their owners.
In 2012, Purina and another Nestlé business, Jenny Craig, created "Project: Pet Slim Down." This online program helped pets and their owners lose weight together. Grumpy Cat became a "spokescat" for the Friskies brand in late 2013. In 2013, Purina showed ads during the Westminster Show that featured videos from pet owners. These videos answered the question "How is Your Dog Great?"
How Purina Works
Main Offices
Nestlé Purina PetCare is a part of Nestlé. Its main office is in St. Louis, Missouri. It has operations in North America, Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America, and Oceania. The headquarters has sixteen buildings on 50 acres. This includes a 15-story main tower and a research facility built in 2010. There's also a Learning and Training center built in 2011. In 2010, Purina built the $10 million Purina Event Center for dog shows and competitions.
Nestlé Purina Petcare supports many good causes. For example, they have an annual "Pet Care Pride Day" where employees volunteer. Employees are also allowed to bring their pets to work. The company has gyms, trainers, and medical care for its employees. About 2,500 to 3,000 employees work at Purina's St. Louis headquarters.
Company Facts
By 2005, Purina PetCare was Nestlé's second most profitable division. It was the largest pet food maker in the US and the second largest in Europe. In 2012, Purina had 23.1% of the global pet food market. Its biggest competitor, Mars, had 23.4%.
In 2010, Nestlé Purina PetCare won the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. This award recognizes excellent organizational and manufacturing performance. Purina's factories have been working to use less packaging materials. They also recycle more waste and use less water. They have installed solar panels to power their offices and facilities. In 2011, Nestlé Purina PetCare was named one of the most sustainable companies. As of 2014, it has 19 manufacturing plants.
In 2021, Purina PetCare helped Nestlé achieve its highest sales in five years. During the pandemic, people bought more pet care products.
In 2021, Purina PetCare's yearly sales reached $16.903 billion. By early 2022, Purina PetCare's sales increased by almost 14%. Purina's sales grew every quarter in 2022. In that year, Purina helped Nestlé expand worldwide. Also, Purina PetCare made up 90% of Nestlé's online pet sales in 2022. For example, Purina's sales in China grew a lot due to online sales and pet specialty stores. In 2022, Purina's sales reached $19.385 billion. In 2023, it was announced that North America and Europe were still Purina's biggest markets.
In January 2023, Purina was the largest pet care company in the US. In March 2023, it was announced that Purina PetCare was Nestlé's second largest category, after coffee. It also had the largest market share in the U.S. During the first three months of 2023, Purina PetCare sales were $5,267 million. Purina continued to be the biggest reason for Nestlé's growth. Dry dog food, dry cat food, and wet cat food make up 80% of Purina's sales. Purina PetCare's performance in the first half of 2023 contributed the most to Nestlé. Its sales from January to June reached $10,799 million.
See also
In Spanish: Nestlé Purina PetCare para niños
- W. Patrick McGinnis, former president and CEO (2001–2015), then non-executive chairman (2015–2017)
