Gun Dog Forum

News has broken that Proctor and Gamble will be buying out Natura Pet Products makers of Innova, California Natural, Health Wise, EVO, and Karma brands

http://www.pginvestor.com/phoenix.zhtml ... ID=1422726

Yep my money is that Blue Buffalo is next...

Sad.....quality down the tubes.....

I read today on some board talking about this subject that a vet posted she has seen to many cases of dogs with kidney problems all were eating Blue Buffalo dry food. Don't know anymore about that just what I read.

jlp8cornell wrote:Sad.....quality down the tubes.....

I don't know of any company that has a better name for quality than P&G. Plus I am sure they are smart enough to not change the product they are buying if it is a good one. And I doubt if P&G would have bought them out if they weren't good.

Ezzy

Ezzy-- I was talking about Innova/EVO. Should have specified....Don't know anything about Blue Buffalo.

jlp8cornell wrote:Ezzy-- I was talking about Innova/EVO. Should have specified....Don't know anything about Blue Buffalo.

Same here. That's what I was talking about also. P&G doen't have anything going with Blue Buffalo that I know of. Think that was just conjector on Sal's part but maybe he knows something we don't. I have no idea what Blue Buffalo is or where it is from.

Ezzy

MikeB wrote:News has broken that Proctor and Gamble will be buying out Natura Pet Products makers of Innova, California Natural, Health Wise, EVO, and Karma brands

http://www.pginvestor.com/phoenix.zhtml ... ID=1422726

On the dog food forum I also frequent there is quite the hullabaloo about this subject. They are all p/o'd about it, saying that quality will surely plummet. P&G is also vilified for "cruel animal testing". [THEIR words, not mine. So please don't shoot the messenger on this one, kids.]

Like others here, I am saying "wait & see". Natura has a very loyal following because of the quality/content of their feed. And if P&G downgrades it, they will surely kill the golden goose. I really hope they keep their products as is; EVO is a great grainless food that is very high in protein.

I do know that when P&G bought out Iams they changed the ingredients to both Iams & Eukanuba formulas.

Actually the ingredient panel was changed about a month or two before the sale to P&G was finalized. The response was "We have not made any changes to the formulation as a result of the sale to P&G." They lost enough customers that the formula was reworked again so that the Eukanuba returned to giving the performance that had come to be expected of it, but by then the customer base had left and was not coming back. I would think that P&G would have learned from that experience and will be unlikely to mess with these foods, but who knows if there is even anyone in the management division now that was around for the Iams experience.

Pet food has been a bust for P&G, according to one of my colleagues that deals with consumer product companies. Iams/Euk is one of the companies smallest and weakest performing divisions. People bought Iams/Euk in its heyday because it wasn't sold in the supermarket and discount stores and because it was owned by a pioneering family. Im not saying the foods are worse but its hard to maintain the sizzle when the food is available right next to Mighty Dog and Ole Roy..

This could actually be a worse deal for P&G because Natura has an ultra, ultra premium position in the market place. Some people will begin switching as soon as the bag is done because Natura is perceived to have lost its moral compass. The Natura ownership group had a very good reputation in the industry for leadership and not compromising quality.

Check this article out on pet foods interesting short read on the dog food biz and what has actually known, seems very little.
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2nydru/ww ... 0.html/r:t

I totally agree. I think a lot of people that bought Natura products bought them because of the company and the quality of the products. Working at a pet store for 6 years that carried Natura products, many of them would/will switch off after the sale.

mcbosco wrote:Pet food has been a bust for P&G, according to one of my colleagues that deals with consumer product companies. Iams/Euk is one of the companies smallest and weakest performing divisions. People bought Iams/Euk in its heyday because it wasn't sold in the supermarket and discount stores and because it was owned by a pioneering family. Im not saying the foods are worse but its hard to maintain the sizzle when the food is available right next to Mighty Dog and Ole Roy..

This could actually be a worse deal for P&G because Natura has an ultra, ultra premium position in the market place. Some people will begin switching as soon as the bag is done because Natura is perceived to have lost its moral compass. The Natura ownership group had a very good reputation in the industry for leadership and not compromising quality.

I disagree. If a better quality dog food than what I was feeding came along that was easily available at local grocery stores or retail stores I would consider changing to it. If the price was right and easy to get, and the quality was there. Right now we would have to drive 1hr 45min just to get to a specialty pet store in order to buy these foods.

I think this would only bring in people and the ones that are leaving just because the company has been sold do not realize what they are feeding to their dogs. They are just buying it for the "name".

IMO

buckwildbirddogs wrote:I disagree. If a better quality dog food than what I was feeding came along that was easily available at local grocery stores or retail stores I would consider changing to it. If the price was right and easy to get, and the quality was there. Right now we would have to drive 1hr 45min just to get to a specialty pet store in order to buy these foods.

I think this would only bring in people and the ones that are leaving just because the company has been sold do not realize what they are feeding to their dogs. They are just buying it for the "name".

IMO

The rational for buying Iams/Euk in the first place was just that, put it everywhere thats convenient and it is a win-win. Well "luxury" goods don't work that way. People that typically buy dog food at the market or a discount store won't spend the extra money for that kind of product and people that spend premium dollars at a speciality store won't on a product that is available in the mass market. There are cross-over buyers but not enough and they are hard to serve. Target has been successful at this and I would be happy if the food I use was available there. In NJ, Tractor Supply attracts a cross-over type consumer as well but the nearest one is an hour away.

So in the end you typically wind up diluting your brand. Very few large, mass market companies are successful with speciality products.

I've been a vet for 30 years, and have attended the funerals of numerous formerly good pet food brands that were bought out by big corps. Consistent quality, top notch ingredients, careful processing etc. just simply aren't compatible with huge market penetration and mega volume, universal availability, and moderate price point, and I doubt that P&G is interested in positioning themselves in a limited market boutique food nitche. I'd say watch the quality of these brands carefully or switch to a brand that hasn't sold out. JB

When the noncompetes expire, this ownership will be back just as the Eagle folks are doing now.