General Mills (makers of Cheerios, Häagen-Dazs, Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Old El Paso) announces the company has entered the pet food field, purchasing Blue Buffalo pet foods.
Announcement from General Mills…
General Mills, Inc. (NYSE: GIS) and Blue Buffalo Pet Products, Inc. (NASDAQ: BUFF) today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which General Mills will acquire Blue Buffalo for $40.00 per share in cash, representing an enterprise value of approximately $8.0 billion. The transaction establishes General Mills as the leader in the U.S. Wholesome Natural pet food category, the fastest growing portion of the overall pet food market, and accelerates its portfolio reshaping strategy.
Founded in 2002, Blue Buffalo is the fastest growing major pet food company making natural foods and treats for dogs and cats under the BLUE brand, which includes BLUE Life Protection Formula, BLUE Wilderness, BLUE Basics, BLUE Freedom and BLUE Natural Veterinary Diet. BLUE is the #1 Wholesome Natural pet food brand in the U.S. with $1.275 billion in net sales and $319 million in Adjusted EBITDA for fiscal year 2017, representing an Adjusted EBITDA margin of 25%. Over the past three years, Blue Buffalo has delivered compound annual net sales growth of 12% and Adjusted EBITDA growth of 18%.
“The addition of BLUE to our family of well-loved brands provides General Mills with the leading position in the large and growing Wholesome Natural pet food category and represents a significant milestone as we reshape our portfolio to drive additional growth and value creation for our shareholders,” said General Mills Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Jeff Harmening.
“We are competing more effectively in our existing categories by really listening to consumers and providing a variety of options that meet their needs,” Harmening continued. “In pet food, as in human food, consumers are seeking more natural and premium products and we have tremendous respect for how attentive Blue Buffalo has been to the needs of their consumers, pet parents and pets, as they have built their brand. As we have done with Annie’s, Lärabar and EPIC, we expect to help Blue Buffalo by leveraging our extensive supply chain, R&D and sales & marketing resources. We will in turn benefit from their experience building one of the strongest pull brands in the CPG world.”
“I have been impressed by General Mills’ strong track record of accelerating growth for its natural and organic brands, while giving them the freedom to maintain their own unique culture and identity. General Mills will be a tremendous home for our BLUE brand as our talented team of over 1,700 ‘Buffs’ joins this new extended family,” said Billy Bishop, Blue Buffalo Chief Executive Officer. “From the first meeting Jeff and I had, I felt a strong cultural fit between our two companies and believe they will be a great partner in our mission to reach more pet parents and feed more pets. This transaction creates significant, immediate value for our shareholders, as it recognizes the strength of our competitively advantaged business model. Along with our leadership team, we look forward to working with General Mills to continue growing the BLUE brand for many years to come.”
Another human food giant joins the ‘feed’ business.
Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,
Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
Author Buyer Beware, Co-Author Dinner PAWsible
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Claire
February 23, 2018 at 11:03 am
Ugh, to me, this is not good news. Fortunately, I feed a raw diet for my dog but my cat gets raw AND Blue Buffalo…..but not for long. I now will be transitioning him to raw 100% because of this news.
Lisa Marie
February 23, 2018 at 11:11 am
Gross. I never recommended Blue at the indy store where I worked. Several months ago I saw their food at a supermarket in Arlington, Va, Harris Teeters. Blue – you are supermarket food.
Barbara
February 23, 2018 at 11:36 am
My opinion: General Mills has been buying out at an alarming rate good organic companies and others that are doing well. Within three months of their taking over Annie’s Homegrown Organics there was a report saying GMO’s were found in their chocolate bunnies. The Organic Mac and Cheese box now say ‘Natural’. I boycott anything that comes from an General Mills owned company… not good for me, not good for my pets.
Kathy Conway
February 23, 2018 at 4:51 pm
I did not know about Annie’s! Major disappointment! Thank you for sharing.
blowyourfunnyfuse
February 25, 2019 at 2:22 pm
thank you Barbara for that informative comment. Certainly, we can see the degradation of healthy, organic foods once they have been corrupted by major, mainstream companies for the mass-produced $$$ bottom line
Cannoliamo
February 23, 2018 at 12:00 pm
Without knowing any details, I’m willing to bet that the markup and profit on pet food is greater than that for human food, especially if all your wholesalers and retailers are already in business. …. The pet food I’ve been buying for years has gone from $18 / case 5 years ago to $28 / case today. If, like me, you buy 8 cases a month (100 cases per year) that’s an increase of $1000 per year for canned cat food. I haven’t found anything cheaper that is grain-free and has any nutritional value. Sometimes I wish certain items (like pet food) would have some price restrictions simply on the basis of humanitarian concern. Maybe someday FDA, FTC and our free-marketing corporate profiteering capitalists will find it in their hearts to allow people to own, feed, love and care for pets without having their bank accounts drained and without having to worry about the toxicity and quality of the ingredients they’re getting.
Barbara Mader
February 24, 2018 at 9:06 am
So agree
I SM single, 73 years old with 4 cats snd one dog.I give up food so they can eat
Kim
March 19, 2018 at 11:03 pm
I own a pet food store and I can tell you the mark up for food in brick and mortar stores is not much and with the competition of on line retailers, it makes it very tough to pay bills, staff, taxes and insurance. Independent retailers are closing left and right. Independent retailers have to buy from distributors who buy from the manufacturers. Everyone has a mark up to pay to run their business and get product from the manufacturer to the consumer. Most independent retailers can’t buy in full pallets let along truck loads. If there’s anyone making bank in pet food it’s the on line retailers and big box stores. It’s amazing how many people don’t understand how the distribution chain works. There has also been a large increase in certain proteins used in pet food…bison, lamb and venison has gone up sky high in the past few months. Please Support your local retailer!
Laurie Raymond
February 23, 2018 at 12:01 pm
From the very beginning, “Blue” has had this in mind: building record profits and selling to one of the giants at the apex of its reputation, which was not derived from commitment to nutrition or quality. I forget which of its founders famously said, “you don’t have to know nutrition to succeed in pet food. You just have to be great at marketing.” (paraphrase) I’m sure General MIlls will be able to make it even more profitably and cheaply with its global supply chain that we are not allowed to examine.
njartist
February 23, 2018 at 1:22 pm
Cross off another dog food that I will not buy
Christine Hudgins
February 23, 2018 at 2:33 pm
From what I’ve heard, general mills uses pesticides in their human food so I guess they want to kill our animals too !!!!
JaneeS
February 23, 2018 at 11:22 pm
Almost all commercial human and pet food has pesticides in it. That includes organic food. Manufacturers have led many people to believe organic chemicals and pesticides are safer than synthetics, but that is not always true, but it IS good marketing.
blowyourfunnyfuse
February 25, 2019 at 2:25 pm
not *always* but at least sometimes. At least we have a chance.
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Trouble
February 23, 2018 at 2:54 pm
…Holy shit. That’s all I could come up with. It was a bit shocking at first to see this, but the more I think about it… the less surprising it really is.
With the heat Blue Buffalo is facing at the moment, it’s no surprise that they would sell now, while they can. Basically….the ship is sinking (very, very slowly at the moment), so better to have someone else man the ship – someone that may be able to save it and prevent it from sinking. If they waited and Blue Buffalo ended up coming under more fire…then maybe they wouldn’t get nearly as much for it if they tried to sell then as opposed to now.
Plus, the CEO (or owner or whatever he’s called) of Blue Buffalo is a greedy, money-hungry asshat…so it’s no surprise that he’d try to profit as much as he possibly can before jumping ship.
Batzion
February 23, 2018 at 3:51 pm
I received this article today from “The Guardian” titled “‘Dirty Meat:’ Shocking hygiene failings discovered in US pig and chicken plants.” It is nauseating: https://www.theguardian.com/animals-farmed/2018/feb/21/dirty-meat-shocking-hygiene-failings-discovered-in-us-pig-and-chicken-plants?mc_cid=1d3841b0df&mc_eid=2e90df67da
If humans are eating this toxic swill because the government considers it GRAS, one can only imagine what these pet “food” companies are cranking out.
blowyourfunnyfuse
February 25, 2019 at 2:26 pm
this is horrifying!!
Batzion
February 25, 2019 at 3:13 pm
Yes, it certainly is horrifying, and that was a year ago. Do you think the situation has improved since then? I would bet money against it.
For more gagworthy info, I strongly encourage everyone to get on these two recall notification lists:
1. USDA – https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/recalls-and-public-health-alerts/current-recalls-and-alerts
2. FDA (Scroll down for pet products under “Animal Health.”) – https://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/default.htm
Diane Martin
February 23, 2018 at 3:58 pm
Well my dog food choose will have to change now. Don’t know yet to what brand. I can’t believe Blue Buffalo sold us all out. General Mills will surely change the ingredients eventually. What happened to customers come first. General Mills quality is disappointing. Way to go Blue Buffalo.
Cav
February 23, 2018 at 9:46 pm
No many high quality commercial foods out there. Orijjen , Acana from Canada are as good as kibble gets. Kibble is not a great choice as it is processed at such a high temp, the nutrients are eliminated.
Anenmarie
February 23, 2018 at 6:52 pm
I’m so disappointed. Blue Wilderness cat kibble is the only “good” food my cat keeps down. I’ve tried them all and he eventually vomits. I held off on giving him Blue Wilderness because the company doesn’t have the best reputation. But when he ate it without incident and likes it and is thriving I was thankful to have found it. And now this. I don’t care what they say, the formulas all end up changing for the worse when they sell out to these mega food corporations.
Don Campbell
February 23, 2018 at 7:19 pm
After hearing the truth about pet food and losing one cat that contracted diabetes from a steady diet of Pet Value over priced crap at 50 bucks a bag I now feed my remaining cat on canned tuna @ $1.19 / can $2.00 cheaper than canned cat food . I mix the tuna with cooked rice .
Mike
February 23, 2018 at 9:09 pm
Tuna does not contain taurine, an essential amino acid for cats. Cats must receive taurine from the meat they eat.
Lisa Marie
February 23, 2018 at 11:02 pm
Don,
That is not in any way a balanced diet for a cat, there are essential nutrients your cat is not getting. One of those, as Mike mentioned, is taurine, without taurine cats can go blind. Calcium, B vitamins, iodone, vitamin E, are among the nutrients a cat needs as well as choline and other amino acids.
Fish also is not appropriate for cats for various health reasons other than an occasional treat.
Please visit Dr. Lisa Pierson, DVM, catinfo.org on how to properly balance homemade recipes for your cat if you choose not to use commercial food.
Balancing food is not an option, it’s a necessity and at this point your cat is at risk for various health issues eating only canned tuna.
Chris
February 24, 2018 at 4:00 am
Don, tuna will be deficient as a diet for your cat although it will take some time for the symptoms to become noticeable. Rice as a regular filler isn’t going to be beneficial in the long run either. There are balanced raw diets in the pet food stores, such as RAD Cat or Primal. Susan also has a cookbook out to make your own cat food. Dinner PAWsible: A Cookbook of Nutritious, Homemade Meals for Cats and Dogs.
http://canigivemycat.com/tuna-fish
https://www.catological.com/can-cats-eat-tuna-salmon/
https://www.thehappycatsite.com/can-cats-eat-rice/
G Willie
February 24, 2018 at 7:27 am
Don – you MUST STOP THIS IMMEDIATELY !!!!! This WILL result in Steatitis, ‘yellow fat disease’….just Google “steatitis,cats”……..and, the lack of Taurine in tuna causes retinal degeneration resulting in blindness plus severe heart disease – again, Google “Taurine deficiency in cats”…….and, get yourself hooked up to a reputable feline discussion forum like TheCatSite.com
Mrs. Elinor McCullough
February 24, 2018 at 9:05 am
You can research this on internet, but I’ve read that Tuna has the highest amount of mercury of any fish in the ocean.
Krissie
February 24, 2018 at 12:27 am
I loved Blue, years ago. Then about 1.5 years ago I noticed my dog getting sick. Then I dug around and that was the time that more animals were getting sick. They stopped being on the top list of brands a while ago.
I left last year. So glad I did. My dog is so much healthier now. Best decision ever.
Mrs. Elinor McCullough
February 24, 2018 at 9:13 am
Kibble is not produced for your dogs but for people and for the human convenience it provides the pet owner (they don’t have to fix anything special for their pet[s])…just open the bag and pour into a bowl and you’re done (very convenient), Very best thing you can do is to feed raw and it is NOT difficult. I’ve never seen any wild animals in the grocery store or pet supply store ripping into a bag of dead, diseased, dyeing, disabled dog kibble (that’s why is commonly known as 4D dog food).
Lori S
March 2, 2018 at 1:36 am
No loss here, I would never have bought Blue for my pets after reading the ingredients.
A few should never be there such as added salt. There are other ingredients that are also not good for dogs on their label. I passed them over. It’s all marketing. Claim you are the best, try to compare yourself to the worst low cost foods so you stand out, but in reality, you are not really that much better then the other premium foods. Easy enough to do. Just hire a good advertising/marketing exec.
Noreen Nugeness
March 5, 2018 at 2:53 am
I buy my little Shih Tzu treats that are put out by Blue Buffalo. Please tell me whether or not they are safe. They are organic and I’ve been giving them to him for a while, he’s 2 years old. I would NEVER give him anything to harm him.
n
June 5, 2018 at 2:52 am
Which Blue Buffalo dog treats are organic?
Luke
April 10, 2018 at 8:20 am
I noticed the new bag of Blue Buffalo “Healthy Living” chicken & brown rice formula that we have been feeding our (7, now 6) cats for years had changed, in a bad way. The cats did not want to eat it, and were getting sick when they did.
I just purchased another bag yesterday that happened to be an older bag by a month. It looked very noticeably different and the cats were gobbling it up. I didn’t know about the buy-out by General Mills until this morning while trying to research it online. It looks like we’ll be making their food from now on.
In case anyone else is feeding it to their cats, here are the lot numbers of the old (good) and new (bad) formula. These are the 15 lb bags, but I imagine all sizes changed around the same time. The old formula is: best by 2019 Jun 27 Lot:20190627 AH2 B 2144. The new bad formula is: best by 2019 Jul 27 lot: 20190727 AH2 C 1637.
I hope that people will stop buying this toxic pet food and that General Mills loses money over bad practices!