Nestlé Purina PetCare is the pet food division of Swiss based Nestlé, following a merger in December 12, 2001, between the Nestlé’s Friskies PetCare Company and the American Ralston Purina Company.
Purina traces its roots back to 1894, when founder William H. Danforth began producing feed for various farm animals under the name Purina Mills. Later, in 1902, he merged with health guru and visionary Webster Edgerly, founder of Ralstonism, who was at the time producing breakfast cereals, to form the “Ralston-Purina Company”. In 1994, the Ralston “human food” operations of the Ralston Purina Company were spun off into a new company called Ralcorp Holdings.
The Purina name was principally associated with the animal feed business, which included feed for livestock and household pets. The predominant brand for each animal was generally referred to as “Chow”; hence there was “Purina Horse Chow”, “Purina Dog Chow”, “Purina Cat Chow”, and even “Purina Monkey Chow,” “Purina Rabbit Chow” and “Purina Pig Chow”.
The animal feed business became the subject of a takeover bid by Swiss-based Nestlé, whose “Friskies” brand was the other leading brand of pet food in the U.S. This bid was eventually accepted in 2001. Several brands of pet food (e.g., “Meow Mix”) had to be divested separately to meet antitrust concerns. Purina brands are now made and marketed by a division of Nestlé (Nestlé Purina PetCare) which is still headquartered in St. Louis. Purina Mills, Inc., the U.S. animal feed business that was sold by Ralston Purina Company in 1986, was purchased by Koch Industries in 1998, but a U.S. Bankruptcy Court cancelled out all equity held by Koch in order to maintain the company’s viability. Purina Mills LLC is now owned by Land O’Lakes.
While primarily a pet food company, Ralston Purina also made some other pet-related products, such as Tidy Cats brand cat litter, purchased from Edward Lowe Industries in 1990. Also, Purina has honoured several Canadian animals every year since 1968 in their Animal Hall of Fame. The latest inductees included a police service dog who “rushed and subdued an armed robber.”
