Mars Purchases Nutro Pet Foods

          Sometimes things that happen in the pet industry make sense and have a positive impact on pets and pet owners. Here is a situation that can only spell doom for what was once considered the working mans dog food. I’m talking about Nutro.

           Since I started selling dog food in 1987 Nutro has been a staple feed for pet owners in the Western states. Today they are an international company with sales in North America, Canada, South America and Europe. Due primarily to a good food promoted by a grass roots base of dog owners, breeders and pet professionals.

            Last week Nutro was purchased by Mars. Owners of Pedigree and Kal Kan. This was very bad news to all of us purists who think that Pedigree would make fine pig food but lacks the integrity to provide our beloved canine friends with real quality dog food. Many of you would consider this blasphemy, speaking so poorly of a company that spends more money on marketing (“Dogs Rule”) than for research and development. It certainly shows in their product.

            If you look at past history this sale is truly shocking to anyone feeding a Nutro product. Look what happened when Colgate Palmolive purchased the thriving R and D driven pet food Science Diet. In the day, Science Diet did all of the leg work to develop a quality dog food and other companies just copied them. Now due to a terrible reputation you would have trouble finding a bag of Science Diet in your neighborhood. How about when Proctor and Gable purchased Iams and Eukanuba. This was actually a dog food I fed my own dogs for years. I remember opening a bag of Iams Mini Chunks and salivating. Now you open a bag of Iams and it smells like cardboard. P and G took a premium dog food named Eukanuba and turned it into a shelf space devouring line of ridiculous “large breed”, “small breed”, “any breed”  corporate money making dog food. I have never seen a brand name ruined as quickly as Eukanuba. Then there’s Heinz. They purchased Natures Recipe. Remember them? I remember when Natures Recipe was the dog food Nutro is today. Respected and fed by many. Now you can’t even find a bag at any respectable feed store.

            Are these companies and what they have done to the pet industry reason enough to worry about what is to come of Nutro. Do you think Mars can squeeze another dime or quarter out of each bag of Nutro they sell by changing the content or playing games with distribution. Maybe they will do the public a favor my providing Nutro products at the mass level. Do you think China’s Wal-Mart or France’s Target care about the content of what they are selling or might it be true that their corporate officers look only for the bottom line profit of what they sell. Just like Mars will do.

            I predict this is the beginning of the end for Nutro. Just like Science Diet, Iams, Eukanuba, and Natures Recipe. Look for a bag change, a subtle content change and then the inevitable degrading of what was once considered a fine dog food into something that just manages to keep your animal alive.

           Long live corporate America and it’s single minded effort to make a buck. In this case at the expense of that breed of  animal I live with and love most dearly.

Glenn Matherly 

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