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Nestlé in talks to buy Champion Petfoods

The Swiss owner of Castor & Pollux, Merrick, Beneful, Friskies, and Purina pet food brands could pay $2B

July 2, 2018

Nestlé, the Swiss food and beverage conglomerate, is in talks to buy a majority stake in Champion Petfoods for $2 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported today.

The Edmonton, Alberta, Canada-based Champion, maker of Orijen and Acana superpremium dog and cat food and treats, is owned by Toronto-based Bedford Capital and others. Its products are sold through pet specialty shops and retailers throughout the U.S. and Canada, veterinary clinics in Canada, and distributors in the U.S. and internationally.

Nestlé owns Castor & Pollux, Merrick, Beneful, Friskies, and Purina pet food brands, among others.

Nestlé is currently under pressure from investors—activist investor Dan Loeb, in particular—to fix its overall corporate strategy. In a statement today, Nestlé said it's on track to meet its 2020 goals for margin improvement, operating profit, and structural cost savings.

Champion, too, is currently under fire. Consumers from California, Minnesota, and Florida filed a class-action lawsuit early this year for "false advertising" and "feed law" violations, among other charges. The suit states that its dry dog food contains BPA, which typically is not associated with dry pet foods.

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49 thoughts on “Nestlé in talks to buy Champion Petfoods”

  1. Very, very disappointed to hear of the sale of Champion, the maker of Orijen and Acana.Every time a huge corporation buys a dog food, it always changes the recipe, and quality declines. These two dog foods are very high quality because of the amount of high quality, multiple meat sourced, recipe. After being bought, I will no longer be feeding this dog food to my pets.

    1. Completely agree brother. I was going to jump ship and pay $85 for 25 pounds of dog food. On to another alternative. Sellouts!

    2. I agree, corporations now rule the world. This was a high quality food and now it becomes questionable. I don't know what to feed my four pups.

        1. Apparently you have never read acana or orijen ingredients. The first 4 to 5 ingredients are actual meat in acana and orijen. Chewy and stella has one real meat ingredient folowwed by meal as the second. Orijen and acana are by far the two of the highest quality kibble available, if not the highest 2. Maybe you should consider switching to one of them. Plus you only feed half as much of acana and orijen, because it's real food nutrition, not just filler

    4. …Did you read the article? Nothing has actually happened yet. Geez. Why do so many people take information that's given to them and just…run wild with it?

      Nestle has not, as of this moment, acquired/purchased/taken control of or anything else, Champion Pet Foods. Everywhere you read about this potential deal, it states that nothing is final, nothing has happened, and that any talks about this happening could still fall through.

      Please…I urge you and others like you who don't actually read information like this when it's given….. Read the article in its entirety before jumping to conclusions. Thanks.

    5. I agree my cats eat Orijen and if the are bought I will stop feeding it I could never trust the makers of such garbage to not ruin this good foods. Its all about profit for them not pet health.

  3. I will begin the search for a new dog food immediately! I'll switch the minute the sale goes thru.so disappointed, it's such a great food now.

  4. It is disappointing. Nestle is getting too big and I also don't trust them. It sounds as if it's all about profit. Maybe this will be another push towards people being worried about their pets' quality of food. Home cooked or raw is better for them anyway, hopefully more pet owners will consider that instead of questionable kibble

  5. The good thing about Purina is that it has consistent quality standards. I'm sure this would be good for both parties. I never understood why people think bigger companies care about your pets. Usually the big companies are the ones that follow the rules.

    2. They follow the rules because they are the ones often making the rules. It's companies like Champion that go above and beyond what the rules require that cause consumers to like them.

    3. Yes but its consistent garbage the bag costs more that the food it has rendered 4 D meats and uses things like restaurant grease its poison for dogs its like you only eating fast food you will live but not thrive. Beneful has an antifreeze derivative and its killing dogs but its easier to settle suits and keep selling trash making billions that's what this company does.

  6. As a pet food retailer I stand with all of you. If this goes through get ready for products being out of stock, a certain decline in quality and eventually, product recalls due to sketchy cost saving measures. Sickening to see our favorite top brands go the way of the corporate cash out. The really infuriating part of this? It might be nothing more than a scheme to kill these brands to make room for "their" "high end" products. We won't be selling the low end reboot.

  7. Hopefully Nestled will NOT be able to purchase Champion Foods. Large corporations always care more about profit than quality. It was bad enough that Champion started manufacturing in U.S.

  9. I'm shocked to hear that Champion is selling out! Champion decided to part ways with Chewy.com when Pet Smart acquired a part of their business. Stating Chewy was no longer considered a specialty store. They tried to make themselves sound special. Chewy made them so many sales too. Karma is a bitch.

    1. Nestle bought Merrick 3 years ago and they still run independent! Merrick is a great food not as pricey as Orijen or Acana. I understand the concern

    2. They simply pulled out of Chewy's.com because they couldn't produce the amount of product needed to supply all channels of distribution get a clue. Then they positioned it as what you said….all companies need to make a profit. All you need to do is watch the ingredients if they don't change why does it matter who owns them? Let me ask you what kind of car you drive?? I'm sure it's not from a "local" maunufacturer of automobiles

  13. Another product Nestle gets their greedy hands on. I spoke a sales clerk today at Ruffins Pet Food and she said she heard about Purina acquiring the brands. She admitted out right that Purina is garbage food for dogs. Now knowing Nestle has a hand in the takeover, I will look for another brand to feed my dog. I don't buy anything Nestle, including their bottle water.

  15. I work in the pet retail industry as well as a nutritional consultant at an independent holistic pet food store, i can confirm that we haven't received any notice of Nestle buying out Champion. As stated above by Mike, it is only speculation as of right now. However, I do agree with the sales rep who spoke to Barb when stated that, "Purina is a garbage food for dogs". It would be highly disappointing if they actually agreed to sell out, not only a decline in quality but loyalty as well.

  16. Forget processed foods, and quality kibble is an oxymoron. Overcooked, rendered, greasy, rancid nuggets are not food. Much better choices out there, like human grade The Honest Kitchen, Stella & Chewy, and premade raw blends. All affordable, especially compared to what you're saying for that "top shelf" garbage.

    1. Check out Rayne pet foods, outstanding results and huge research into novel proteins for multiple food sensitivities leading to IBD, skin allergy etc

  18. I am in the process of switching my dog from Grand cru to Acana…… I am really not liking the possibility that Purina may get their hands on this company.

  19. I will no longer purchase Orijen for my 7 dogs if purchased by Nestle. As a breeder, I can no longer recommend this product to new puppy buyers. Very disappointing.

  20. I am a dog food retailer in Ireland, and i stock Orijen and Acana – I dont stock Nestle Purina, Pedigree Mars or Science Plan as we concentrate on dog food ingredients – and much as this will be very disappointing "IF" it does happen, i think we need to wait and see what happens with distributorship and crucially ingredients before we give up on two of the best dry foods out there.
    From a business perspective the big 3 just cannot compete with this quality of product with their expensive corporate and sales infrastructure and advertising, they need overpriced product heavily promoted – so maybe they will take a hands off approach.
    Additionally, the class actions combined with the fact Champion is part owned by investor Bedford Capital makes a sale to someone large very likely sooner than later.

  24. I hope this does not happen. I bought 3 extra 25 pound bags of Acana just in case it does go through. This will give me time to find another quality food for my dog. Purina doesn't care about the pets, just profit margin.
    Very sad what our country has become.

  26. Yes it's sold according to my Dog Food Sales person, the product will stay the same for 6 months then changes will start. I will no longer buy this food for my dogs, and as I show and breed dogs I will no longer advice my clients to buy it. It will be junk food like their other products…sad

  27. Are any of you worried that Acana is listed as one of the highest number of taurine-deficient dcm cases? I fed it, also, but have switched until there is more data available.

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