This can't be good.

[ancientgirl]

I may need to rethink the gangs food brand.


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http://www.pginvestor.com/phoenix.zh...cle&ID=1422726


P&G Acquires Natura Pet Products

P&G Expands Further in 'Super Premium' Pet Food Segment

CINCINNATI, May 5, 2010 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ --The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE: PG) has signed an agreement to acquire Natura Pet Products, Inc., a privately-held pet food business based in Davis, California.



This move enables P&G to expand into the attractive "holistic and naturals" segment of the pet food category, complementing P&G's current Iams and Eukanuba brands and helping the Company advance its overall growth strategy of "reaching more consumers in more parts of the world more completely."

Natura's brands include Innova, Evo, California Natural, Healthwise, Mother Nature and Karma. These brands are sold in a limited number of pet specialty stores and through veterinarians, mainly in the United States and Canada.

"These outstanding brands and the great employees of Natura Pet Products will complement our Eukanuba and Iams brands very well," said Dan Rajczak, senior vice president of P&G's global pet care and snacks businesses. "This acquisition gives us a strong position in the holistic and natural pet food segment. It will enable us to enhance the health and well-being of even more dogs and cats and represents an exciting new source of growth for our business."

"It's time for the right company to take our brands to the next level of growth. P&G is that company," said John Rademakers, founder and owner of Natura Pet Products. "We know that P&G will honor our history as they capitalize on their strengths to build these brands."

Natura Pet Products employs about 140 people, mainly at its production sites in San Leandro, California and Fremont, Nebraska. P&G is targeting to close this deal in about a month, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory clearances. Specific terms of the deal are not being disclosed.

About Procter & Gamble


Four billion times a day, P&G brands touch the lives of people around the world. The company has one of the strongest portfolios of trusted, quality, leadership brands, including Pampers(R), Tide(R), Ariel(R), Always(R), Whisper(R), Pantene(R), Mach3(R), Bounty(R), Dawn(R), Gain(R), Pringles(R), Charmin(R), Downy(R), Lenor(R), Iams(R), Crest(R), Oral-B(R), Duracell(R), Olay(R), Head & Shoulders(R), Wella(R), Gillette(R), Braun(R) and Fusion(R). The P&G community includes about 135,000 employees working in about 80 countries worldwide. Please visit http://www.pg.com for the latest news and in-depth information about P&G and its brands.

SOURCE Procter & Gamble

[sugarcatmom]

Oh crap. I'm very sad to read this.

[MyBirdIsEvil]

That sucks. I know a lot of you feed their brands. Since P&G is acquiring them to try and get into holistic food, hopefully they'll keep the formulas instead of just using the names to gain customers.

Even if they do keep the formulas the same, I would hate to give money to a company that I feel has been ethically questionable over the years, especially regarding animals and their pet food division.
What do you do if your animal has been doing extremely well on one of the Natura foods though? This puts a lot of people in a tough position.

[rainbow]

I just logged on to post this information as well. I am beyond shocked, saddened and disgusted.

[ancientgirl]

I'm hoping they keep things as they are. It would be pretty stupid to acquire a brand known for being a holistic one and then start changing things. It defeats the purpose and the customer base they came in with will slowly dwindle down.

I'm going to start looking for another brand. This really blows giant cow patties!

[rainbow]

Years ago Iams and Eukanuba used to be considered top quality until they were bought out by Proctor & Gamble.

[MyBirdIsEvil]

Originally Posted by ancientgirl

I'm hoping they keep things as they are. It would be pretty stupid to acquire a brand known for being a holistic one and then start changing things. It defeats the purpose and the customer base they came in with will slowly dwindle down.

I'm going to start looking for another brand. This really blows giant cow patties!

You would be surprised. A lot of people feed holistic brands out of recommendation from people, or because it looks like a good brand and says holistic. I doubt everyone that feeds Natura's brands is like us and actually reads every single ingredient. A lot of people would probably be willing to stick with the brand just because the name is still the same and it still claims to be holistic, even if P&G starts adding fillers. Some of the less knowledgeable people that do read ingredients may be able to be fooled by labeling tricks like breaking ingredients down into several components, etc..
P&G knows what they're doing to make a profit and keep costs down. They may keep the ingredients the same for quite awhile, but I doubt they will do it long term. Hopefully they will though, because with their large scale buying power and distribution abilities they could bring better quality pet food to a lot of people that don't have access to the smaller scale sellers that normally sell Natura's brands.