Who Owns Blue Buffalo Dog Food

Is Blue Buffalo Owned By China

The BLUE Story | Blue Buffalo Pet Food

None of the ingredients are sourced from China. All Blue Buffalo products are manufactured in the United States. Many of their ingredients, such as most grains and meats, like chicken, beef and turkey come from the United States. Rabbit is sourced from Europe, and trout can come from the United States or Canada.

Where Does The Name Blue Buffalo Come From

in 2002 after their dog Blue was stricken with cancer. The family wanted to feed their sick pet better food and worked with animal nutritionists and a veterinarian to create the products. They added the name buffalo to signify a period where animals roamed free in the Great Plains and ate only natural food.

Why Is It Called Blue Buffalo

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General Mills Which Is Best Known For Cereal Brands Like Cheerios And Wheaties Is Branching Into The Fast

General Mills announced Friday that it’s buying Blue Buffalo Pet Products for $8 billion. The brand makes natural food for dogs and cats.

“We know that pets are family members, as you’ve heard me say multiple times, and we want to continue to do better for all family members, both non-furry and furry,” said Blue Buffalo Chief Executive Officer Billy Bishop, in a call with analysts.

General Mills hasn’t sold pet food for about 50 years. Chief Executive Officer Jeff Harmening referred to the purchase as a “portfolio reshaping strategy” in the analyst call.

“Reshaping our portfolio is something we intend to continue to do and we’ll probably accelerate,” he said.

General Mills has experienced some weak profits because of lackluster cereal and Yoplait yogurt sales. But Wall Street didn’t seem to embrace its diversification plan. General Mills’ stock price dipped 3% in early trading. Standard & Poor’s said that it lowered General Mills’ rating to BBB “because of the substantial increase in leverage,” though the outlook remains stable.

But the acquisition makes sense to Larry Light, a brand revitalization expert who used to be the chief marketing officer for McDonald’s.

The pet industry has been growing rapidly in recent years. The pet care and pet service industry saw about a 10 percent jump in sales in 2016 and a nearly 6% increase in profit, according to data compiled by Sageworks, a financial information company.

Blue Buffalo Dog Food An Introduction

Bill Bishop was the visionary whose main aim was to make high-quality, standardized and natural pet foods for cats and dogs. In a bid to make natural and healthy pet foods, he founded his pet food company, Blue Buffalo Dog Food in the USA. The companys headquarters is located at Wilton, Connecticut.

Ever since 2003, Blue Buffalo has been involved in the making of all kinds of pets foods such as dry, wet and treats. If you had wondered all these years who makes Blue Buffalo Pet Food brand, you have now got your answer. Yes, the Blue Buffalo is made in the USA, but this cannot be said for all the ingredients. The company makes most of the main ingredients and recipes in its facilities situated across the USA.

However,for the minor ingredients and products, even an expert dog food advisor cannotfind out if they are made in the USA or Blue Buffalos other facilities outsidethe country. There is no news or confirmation about the areas from where theeminor ingredients are sourced. It is for this reason that we cannot answer 100%in the USA when we are posed with the question, where is Blue Buffalo Dog Food made.

Why Was The Blue Buffalo Brand In The News Recently

Cat anddog owners loved the variety of pet foods that Blue Buffalo brand manufactured.They offered different lines of product in diverse budget ranges to cater tothe needs of all their customers. The brand gained immense popularity, as aresult of which the sales figures touched close to $1billion during 2017.

Theimpressive sales figures and the credibility that the brand enjoyed in themarket made big brands such as General Mills sit up and take notice of it. General Mills, the maker of the breakfastcereal Cheerios, was interested in acquiring the Blue Buffalo brand.Eventually, in 2018, the acquisition deal was finalized for a value of$8billion.

The idea behind the acquisition

Why didGeneral Mills that had many brands show interest in a pet food maker? Howdid the small company that started in Wilton manage to impress the heavyweightMinneapolis-based General Mills? Read on to know more about the deal.

Due to the immense success and reputation of the Blue Buffalo brand, many people wondered where is Blue Buffalo Dog Food made. However, a company as huge as General Mills found in Blue Buffalo, saw it as the perfect way to diversify its product portfolio. For many years, General Mills was known to be the face of packaged and processed foods in America.

During the acquisition, the CEO of General Mills, Jeff Harmening, had stated that his company was interested in the Blue Buffalo brand because it was a brand that listened to its customers always.

Blue Buffalo Dog Food Company Review

With the love them like family, feed them like family philosophy driving their business, Blue Buffalo has quickly risen to one of the most recognizable names in the U.S. pet food industry.

Youve probably seen their products on store shelves across the nation.

But do they make good dog food?

Blue Buffalo was born out of the grief that came with watching the Bishops beloved family dog, Blue, suffer from a variety of health issues causing the founders and their two sons to realize the connection between diet and health, and to take action via creating dog food with only the highest quality natural ingredients.

Now: As commendable as that is, lets find out if they in fact delivered upon, and stuck with this promise.

Buying Tip

Compare this product with Amazon Best Sellers in the Best Dog Food category.

Why review Blue Buffalo? Any time a dog food maker reaches celebrity status, which Blue Buffalo has attained by owning 6% of the USA pet food market, there tends to be a lot of noise generated from all sides.

Theres those who swear by the brand, and feed their dogs nothing but Blues products.
Theres those who urge others to stay away from the brand, having had not so great experiences.

So: Is the truth somewhere in the middle? Does Blue Buffalo make good dog food? Or do they have good marketing, with their product falling short on quality?

Now: This is why its important to review dog food brands in-depth. Well touch upon these questions below.

Also Check: How To Soften Dry Dog Food

General Mills Paid Silly Money For Pet Food

General Mills violated the cardinal rule of value investors: Don’t just do something, stand there. While most of us are inclined to the opposite, this wise advicewhich turns the old adage on its headis designed to prevent action for the sake of action. And action for the sake of action can have dangerous consequences. General Mills might have to learn the hard way after it bought Blue Buffalo Pet Products Inc., a fast-growing pet food company for an enterprise value of $8 billion.

Blue Buffalo has its charms. Just nothing worth the sum that General Mills paid for it in a deal that closed earlier this year. Since the deal was announced, the market has rendered its unsurprising verdict, incinerating more than $3 billion in market capitalization.

General Mills is not alone in its apparent desperation. Traditional, old-school food companies from Campbell’s Soup Co. on down have been making hasty, madcap acquisitions in a headlong desire to do something about their paltry growth rates. The results of their fear have not been pretty. Campbell’s recently leveraged itself to the precarious hilt borrowing over $5 billion to buy Snyder’s-Lance, maker of pretzels and chips. The result is a harrowing debt-to-EBITDA ratio of five times, which led to the review of the company’s credit rating by Moody’s and the departure of the CEO.

To examine the Blue Buffalo deal is to take a gander at the dark side of paying up: the intersection of desperation and pollyannaism.

Blue Buffalo Dog Food The Bottom Line

The BLUE Story | Blue Buffalo Pet Food

Before we part ways, lets summarize what this company is all about real quick.

Nutrition philosophy: Love them like family. Feed them like family. ®

Goal: To create the healthiest pet food possible.

Whats claimed to be in their food?

high-quality protein sources
the best sources of fats
quality whole grains, not the less expensive and less effective fractionated grains
wholesome fruits and veggies
precise blend of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants selected by holistic veterinarians and animal nutritionists.

Final Say: Blue Buffalo is a definitely a company that will be around for quite some time. They make good dog food and they have a solid marketing department. Their trademarked LifeSource Bits blend of nutrients and antioxidants serves to set them apart from their competition.

We think they have the resources and the loyal following to do something great with their brand, especially now that theyve been acquired by one of the most historic companies in the United States .

We are interested to see in which direction the owner takes the newly acquired company, whether they will stick to and improve upon their mission values, or whether profit will de facto commandeer their decision making.

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Dog Food Coupons And Discounts

Blue Buffalo Ingredient Comparison Tool + $5 OFF When You Switch

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Buying Tip

What Dog Food Is Better Than Blue Buffalo

Taste of the Wild High Prairie Grain-Free Dog Food is the best alternative to Blue Buffalo Wilderness formulas. This recipe uses several different animal proteins to offer a high crude protein content of 32%. Both recipes include fish meal to offer a high-fat content for pups with high energy needs.

Also Check: Purina Owned By

Is Blue Buffalo Dog Food Safe

The question that has the internet buzzing.

Because Blue Buffalo has had to recall a number of its products over the past decade, consumers have been asking themselves whether they should jump ship or if this is all just part of doing business.

Rumors: There have also been rumors circulating the internet about Blue Buffalo containing lead. Mainly due to a 24-page class action lawsuit that was filed against the company.

Products mentioned in the lawsuit:

Blue Wilderness Chicken Recipe for Small Breed Adult Dogs
Blue Freedom Grain-Free Chicken Recipe for Small Breed Adult Dogs
Blue Basics Grain-Free Turkey & Potato Recipe for Adult Dogs

Blue Buffalos response:

The verdict: The class action lawsuit against Blue Buffalo Pet Products has resulted in the judge awarding the companies motion to dismiss the suit.

So which is it? Are Blue Buffalo products unsafe? Is Blue Buffalo worth the money?

The fact of the matter is that the vast majority of pet food is safe. Meaning it goes through proper quality control and due diligence is done during manufacturing and ingredient sourcing.

But: Recalls still remain a common thing, industry-wide, and theres no end in sight. Its just the nature of the beast with such a complex global supply chain infrastructure. Companies will continue to voluntarily recall food they deem unsafe or not meeting their quality standards. Blue Buffalo follows this philosophy. But we do have some concerns.

General Mills Dives Deeper Into The Pet Business

Blue Buffalo Introduces Breakthrough Blue Dog Food ...

General Mills is diving further into the red-hot pet food market, acquiring Tyson Foods animal treat business for $1.2 billion in cash

Paw-fect match

SILVER SPRING, Md. — General Mills is diving further into the red-hot pet food market, acquiring Tyson Foods’ animal treat business for $1.2 billion in cash, the companies said Friday.

Best known for Cheerios, Betty Crocker and Pillsbury, General Mills in 2018 entered the pet food business in a big way, spending $8 billion to acquire Blue Buffalo, a premium brand.

Then the pandemic hit, fueling the biggest surge of pet adoptions in recent memory.

About 12.6 million U.S. households got a new pet last year after the pandemic was declared in March 2020, according to a COVID-19 Pulse Study by the American Pet Products Association.

When General Mills released quarterly earnings this spring, it became clear that the animals taken home from shelters during the pandemic were not the only winners.

Third-quarter net sales from General Mills’ pet business, which ended in February, jumped 14 percent to $436 million, and through nine months of the fiscal year, sales are up 13 percent to $1.29 billion.

Under General Mills, Blue Buffalos sales have grown at a 10% compound rate, with the last 12 months bringing in more than $1.7 billion. Profit from Blue Buffalo are growing even faster, from about $300 million in 2017, before General Mills acquired it, to more than $400 million in the past 12 months.

Is Taste Of The Wild Dog Food Made In China

Most of the ingredients found in Taste of the Wild dog foods are sourced in the United States. A few that arent available in large quantities domestically have been sourced from foreign suppliers lamb from New Zealand, potato protein from Germany, chicory from Belgium, and select nutrients from China.

Taste Of The Wild Vs Blue Buffalo

Made by Diamond Pet Foods, Inc., owned by Schell and Kampeter, Inc., Taste of the Wild is a family owned, privately held business. As a relatively new brand of dog food made only since 2007, Taste of the Wild was created to meet the markets growing demand for a natural, grain-free dog food. However, it also offers a grain-inclusive option as well.

It offers both wet and dry food as well as diets for different life stages for a total of 21 high-quality food choices for your canine. All of their formulas are created to emulate what dogs would eat in the wild with unique lean meats that are certified hormone and antibiotic free, with highly digestible energy sources, antioxidants, and chelated minerals for better absorption.

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General Mills Touts Blue Buffalo Success Story As Proof Of Acquisition Brand Growth Capabilities

MINNEAPOLIS Net sales for General Mills pet segment, Blue Buffalo, were up 14% to $436 million in the third quarter of the companys fiscal 2021, ended Feb. 28. Operating profit for the segment was up 9% to $102 million.

Nine-months sales for the segment grew 13% to $1.29 billion, with operating profit up 22% to $312 million.

Growth for the Blue Buffalo brand was driven by positive volume growth and market share gains, and partially offset by investment costs for its new BLUE Tastefuls wet cat food portfolio officially launched in mid-March unfavorable net price realization and mix, and increased media investment, the company reported.

One of the most compelling growth opportunities in our portfolio resides within our pet segment, said Jeff Harmening, chairman and chief executive officer of General Mills. Next month marks the third anniversary of our transformational acquisition of Blue Buffalo. As we think about continuing to reshape our portfolio for enhanced growth, we look to our performance with BLUE as evidence of our ability to successfully acquire, nurture and grow brands and businesses where we can leverage the power of General Mills team and capabilities.

Third-quarter growth for both wet food and treats was approximately 25%, shared Kofi A. Bruce, chief financial officer of General Mills. The company plans to focus on these two categories, specifically wet cat food, as well as condition-based diets to drive continued growth.

How Does Blue Buffalo Dog Food Rate

Blue Buffalo Wilderness Regional Recipe Dog Food & Treats | Chewy

Congrats on making it this far, or maybe this is the only reason youre here? Either way, heres our take on Blue Buffalo after everything weve seen and covered so far. We like Blue Buffalo, a lot, we really do! Its one of the leading holistic dog food brands in the United States for good reason, it produces quality dog food. We rate Blue Buffalo a strong 4 out of 5 stars.

When it comes to Blue Buffalo: Its a strong company with a now even stronger giant as its owner. We like the only U.S. sourced natural ingredients goal the company strives to live by , aiming at making pet food as healthy, holistic, and natural as possible.

But: What we are a little weary of is the fact that the company has lied to consumers in the past and even ran hypocritical pervasive advertising claims against their competitors. Whether they had no idea of it or not, at the end of the day, it makes a 5 out of 5 stars rating for them just out of reach.

Recommended Reading: Iams Grain Free Dog Food Review

General Mills Completes Acquisition Of Blue Buffalo Pet Products

MINNEAPOLIS, April 24, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — General Mills, Inc. today announced it has completed the acquisition of Blue Buffalo Pet Products, Inc. for $40 per share in an all-cash transaction, which represents an enterprise value of approximately $8.0 billion. The addition of Blue Buffalo establishes General Mills as the leader in the Wholesome Natural pet food category, the fastest growing portion of the $30 billion U.S. pet food market, and accelerates the company’s portfolio reshaping strategy.

“Today marks an important new chapter as we welcome Blue Buffalo to the General Mills family,” said General Mills Chairman and CEO Jeff Harmening. “The Blue Buffalo team has built a terrific brand that is leading the transformation of the U.S. pet food market and continues to generate top-tier growth. This acquisition adds a compelling new growth platform to the General Mills portfolio, and I’m confident that we can leverage our capabilities to drive continued growth for the BLUE brand and significant value for General Mills shareholders.”

General Mills will operate Blue Buffalo under a newly formed Pet operating segment. Senior members of the Blue Buffalo management team, including Billy Bishop, will continue to lead Blue Buffalo from its headquarters in Wilton, Conn. Bishop will report to Harmening.