The shocking announcement was published in Bloomberg News: “Mars to Buy Pet-Food Brand Nom Nom in $1 Billion Deal.” A Mars Petcare representative stated “Nom Nom will be an autonomous brand within Mars’s Royal Canin division.”
$1 Billion?
The Bloomberg story stated Mars is purchasing Nom Nom for $1 billion dollars. Nom Nom is a tiny company – compared to Mars brands. Nom Nom has ONLY 5 different pet food products, four dog food products and one cat food product.
A $1 billion dollar price tag for only 5 different varieties? Or is there more to the purchase?
Is the price tag Human Grade related?
The Nom Nom Now website states “We only use whole food ingredients, processed in the USA and fit for human consumption.” But…the Nom Nom website does not clarify if supplements are human grade, or if manufacturing standards meet human food safety requirements.
Because Nom Nom Now does not make the Human Grade claim on their label, we can only assume that the pet food does not fully meet the legal requirements of a Human Grade pet food. To be clear, for a pet food to make the Human Grade claim on its label (or in marketing), regulations require: 100% human edible ingredients, 100% human edible supplements, and manufactured in a licensed human food facility (under constant USDA inspection). With pet food regulations, the Human Grade label claim is ‘all or nothing’. A pet food must meet all of the legal requirements or they cannot claim Human Grade on their label.
Unfortunately for pet owners, the ONLY guarantee we have to quality of ingredients in any pet food is the full requirement of Human Grade pet food. When a pet food is manufactured under constant USDA inspection, we are guaranteed every ingredient and supplement is human edible. The USDA inspector does not allow any inedible ingredient on manufacturing premises.
When a pet food is manufactured in a pet food facility, there is no legal requirement for a USDA inspector to oversee the manufacturing process or provide us assurances all ingredients are Human Grade. In fact, the FDA openly allows non-Human Grade pet foods to utilize very inferior ingredients including illegal animal waste (diseased animals and/or animals that have died other than by slaughter). Manufacturers claim human grade ingredients on their website or in correspondence to pet owners, but no regulatory authority validates those claims – they could be misleading.
Such as…Mars Petcare claims Cesar pet foods is a “gourmet wet dog food“. However, an inspection of a Mars Cesar manufacturing facility found the plant ‘failed’ to “minimize deterioration” of pet food raw ingredients and documents showed the pet food plant was infested with roaches in the food production area. Is millions of roaches and deterioration of ingredients actually ‘gourmet’?
Will Mars Petcare and their lobby group Pet Food Institute influence changes in the existing legal standards of Human Grade pet food?
The legal standards of Human Grade pet food have been in discussion at AAFCO for the last couple of years. More discussion is planned for the next meeting happening next week in Mobile, AL. As the largest manufacturer of pet food in the world, Mars Petcare certainly has influence with trade associations and in turn influence with the regulatory authorities of AAFCO. We will continue to watch what AAFCO does for Human Grade pet food requirements, especially now.
Will it matter to Pet Owners that Mars will own Nom Nom?
Back in 2010, the Procter & Gamble company purchased Natura Pet Foods – at the time one of the most respected pet foods in the US. Consumers and retailers that trusted the Natura brand since it began were horrified and refused to purchase or with retailers carry the product after the P&G purchase. Four years later, P&G sold Natura to Mars (in 2014) and today the brand doesn’t even exist.
Only time will tell if pet owners will trust Nom Nom after the Mars purchase or if history will repeat itself and the sale will destroy the brand.
What do you think?
If you are a customer of Nom Nom Now – will you continue to purchase the pet food after the Mars purchase of the company?
How much can Mars Petcare own?
Per the Mars website, the company owns (this is not a complete list):
- Banfield Pet Hospitals
- VCA Pet Hospitals
- Blue Pearl Pet Hospitals
- AniCura Pet Hospitals
- Linneaus Pet Hospitals
- VSH Pet Hospitals
- Pedigree pet food
- Royal Canin pet food
- Whiskas pet food
- Iams pet food
- Nutro pet food
- Dreamies cat treats
- Sheba cat food
- Cesar dog food
- Temptations cat treats
- Eukanuba pet food
- Greenies dog treats
- Aquarian fish food
- API fish products
- Buckeye horse feed
- Spillers horse feed
- Winergy horse feed
- WISDOM PANEL® Canine DNA Tests
- WHISTLE pet tracking device
- Leap Venture Studio
- Companion Fund
- Kinship
- WALTHAM Petcare Science Institute
When will we reach a point of Mars Petcare owning too much of pet related businesses? Or have we passed that point?
Are pets put in jeopardy with one privately held company owning veterinary hospitals, veterinary labs, and multiple pet food brands?
Wishing you and your pet the best –
Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
TruthaboutPetFood.com
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Concerned
January 15, 2022 at 3:07 pm
The warnings where already there to be sold in the coming years whenever capital investment gets involved, typically 4-7 years max before the investment company sells for big $$$$.
Nom Nom counts Anchor Capital, Coefficient Capital and Greycroft among its backers, according to data provider Crunchbase data.
Murph
January 15, 2022 at 3:12 pm
So sad! Thank you for alerting us – and for all you do!
Lynn Felici-Gallant
January 15, 2022 at 3:25 pm
Just wow on multiple levels, good and…?
Sherri
January 15, 2022 at 3:29 pm
I had tried Nom Nom Now a few years back and wasn’t impressed. Too much white rice and potatoes. If I was still feeding it, no I would not continue after this sellout.
Real Companion Lover
January 15, 2022 at 3:40 pm
To answer the question; no, we will not buy nom nom after mars gets its dirty hands on it. The news itself about the purchase is enough to cease buying it. If mars disappeared totally to its namesake planet, we’d be all the more happy and healthier.
Debbie D
January 15, 2022 at 3:46 pm
If people would stop being lazy and stop buying crappy food and start feeding homemade..then these crappy companies would fall or be forced to change. Until WE THE PEOPLE stand up against this, it will only get worse. Homemade is the ONLY way…
Will Ar
February 2, 2022 at 11:16 pm
Lazy and cheap*
Fern Slack, DVM
January 15, 2022 at 3:58 pm
You left out a big Mars ownership: Antech veterinary lab. The people who make the food also own and control the lab that runs tests on the effects of that food. Antech is one of the two major US veterinary reference labs. Talk about conflict of interest. As an example, Antech has developed a “lab test” that has, as far as I can see, only one single purpose: to provide an excuse for vets to prescribe renal prescription diets as early in the pet’s life as possible. Of course Mars makes renal prescription diets. As you’ve pointed out in previous posts, the involvement of Mars and other pet “food” manufacturers in veterinary colleges, and the influence those companies have on what vets are taught about nutrition, is another significant conflict of interest. The pet food industry right now is infiltrated into the veterinary world at almost every level. As best I can see, the reason for that is entirely to protect profits deriving from the sales of high-profit level products; it certainly has nothing to do with a desire to improve the health of our pets.
Robyn Majewski
February 9, 2022 at 5:13 pm
I do feed my dog NomNom and I am very sad to hear this. I tried other home delivery brands and I liked the consistency of this company’s food and business practices best. I will be looking for another food source.
Susan M
January 15, 2022 at 6:33 pm
Although I don’t feed this product to my pets, still sad to see. My vet mentioned the reason there’s a shortage of vets in my area, and the difficulty recruiting new ones to his practice, is because Banfield (Mars) grabs them at vet school.
T Allen
January 15, 2022 at 7:41 pm
It sounds like it might be time for the FTC to start investigating Mars Petcare for violations of Antitrust laws. Specifically, “Clayton Act prohibits mergers and acquisitions where the effect “may be substantially to lessen competition, or to tend to create a monopoly.” “The Clayton Act also authorizes private parties to sue for triple damages when they have been harmed by conduct that violates either the Sherman or Clayton Act and to obtain a court order prohibiting the anticompetitive practice in the future.” https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/competition-guidance/guide-antitrust-laws/antitrust-laws I’m not an attorney but it sure sounds like buying out “healthier” dog food brands and destroying them is not in the buyers interest!
Marlow
January 15, 2022 at 8:12 pm
Absolutely will not buy Nom Nom, nor anything else associated with Mars, as far as pet care. Thanks for your dedication and hard work.
K2
February 25, 2022 at 10:36 pm
I was buying nom nom for my cat. It seemed like a really good product and he loved eating it. Whole pieces of chicken, some carrots and spinach (which i picked out since they were not already digested by another animal which is what a cat would ingest) and hopefully vitimin supplements but was just informed they are stopping the cat food line. So obviously I will not buy from them however I definitely won’t buy if they are bought out by Mars and Mars starts producing NomNom cat food.