Origins In 1894,
William H. Danforth partnered with George Robinson and William Andrews, as they entered the business of feeding
farm animals by founding the
Purina Mills in
St. Louis, Missouri. The name was changed to
Ralston Purina in 1902. In the same year Ralston Purina built its first building at the current headquarters, 800 Chouteau Ave, St. Louis, Missouri. In 2001,
Cargill acquired Agribrands International and decided to retain the Purina brand. At the same time, the pet food division was sold to the Nestlé Group. Nestlé Purina PetCare was formed in December 2001, when Nestlé acquired Ralston Purina for $10.3 billion and merged it with Nestlé's pet food business, Friskies PetCare Company. Ralston had marketed the
Dog Chow, Cat Chow and Pro Plan pet food brands, while Nestlé produced Friskies and
Alpo brand pet foods. creating the separate
Meow Mix Company. Ralston's St Louis, Missouri location was chosen as the new company's North American headquarters. It cut back dry dog-food manufacturing at facilities inherited from Friskies PetCare Company in Jefferson,
Wisconsin, St Joseph, Missouri and
Arden Hills,
Minnesota, then moved those operations to manufacturing facilities acquired from Ralston. Expanded manufacturing facilities were planned in
Dunkirk, New York and the St. Joseph location was later expanded for wet-food production. In
Asia, it shifted from a "dealer system" to managing its distribution. In 2004, Nestlé Purina merged its
North American and
Latin America operations into a Nestlé Purina PetCare Americas division. Nestlé Purina Petcare grew from about 11 percent of Nestlé's revenues in 2001, to one-third by 2005.
Recent history By 2009, Purina was one of Nestlé's fastest-growing divisions, due to an increasing willingness by consumers to spend more money on pet care. PetCare was later acquired by Pethealth Inc. in 2013. By 2009 Purina had also introduced pet litter products and built new manufacturing facilities in
Russia and
Thailand. Its Colorado plant built the largest privately owned solar panel system in the state. In September 2010, Nestlé reached an agreement to acquire Waggin' Train, a producer of pet treats with $200 million in annual revenues. From 2010 to 2012, Nestlé expanded its manufacturing operations in
Australia,
Hungary and
Germany. It also implemented the company's largest
solar panel farm at its facilities in
Atlanta,
Georgia. In 2013, Nestlé Purina PetCare acquired the pet adoption website
Petfinder. The following year it acquired Zuke's, a producer of cat and dog treats. In April 2014, Nestlé Purina PetCare opened the first
cat café in the
US. In February 2019, the company announced plans to spend $115 million to expand its factory in
Bloomfield, Missouri, to support the demand for its cat litter. In November, the company invested $320 million in an old textile factory in
Hartwell, Georgia. In April 2020, Nestlé Purina PetCare acquired Lily's Kitchen, a UK-based natural pet food brand. In November 2020, Purina announced Nina Leigh Krueger as the new
company CEO. Krueger is the first female CEO of Nestlé Purina PetCare for the Americas. In October 2022, Purina announced the opening of its new facility in
Rayong,
Thailand. Later in November, Nestlé Purina PetCare announced its alliance with
Riceland Foods to work on encouraging Riceland farm members to cultivate and grow
rice with sustainable techniques starting in 2023. The same
year, Purina announced its partnership with pet-care startups from
Europe and
North Africa to meet the demands of more sustainable solutions for the well-being of pets. In 2023, it was announced that Purina's portfolio specifically entailed dry
dog food (30%), wet dog food (4%), dry
cat food (19%), wet cat food (32%) and other pet nutrition products (15%). In February 2023, Purina reported its plan to acquire Red Collar Pet Foods' pet treats factory in
Miami. In October 2023, Purina announced the opening of two new production units at its
factory in
Hungary. In 2024, Purina PetCare invested €472 million to open a pet food factory in
Mantua,
Italy. It also opened a new facility in Eden. Later, in May, Purina invested $220 million to stimulate production in
Mexico. By 2025, Purina PetCare
Europe has factories in
France,
Germany,
Hungary,
Italy,
Poland,
United Kingdom and
Spain. Blue Buffalo made similar allegations against Purina in a counter-suit less than a week later. It also alleged Purina was engaging in what it characterized as a "smear campaign". In 2015, after a dog died and others got sick, a
class action lawsuit was filed against Purina alleging that the company's Beneful brand of dog food contained
propylene glycol and
mycotoxins produced by mould found in grains – grain being a major ingredient in Beneful. The lawsuit was dismissed when the judge ruled that the plaintiff's attorneys did not prove that the food caused the dogs' illnesses, and the dog's death was found to have been caused by a heart tumour. In April 2017, another lawsuit stating that Purina's Beggin' line of dog treats was falsely advertised to be "full of bacon", was dropped. In April 2020, a class action lawsuit was filed in Missouri claiming that Purina knowingly sold pet food products containing alarming amounts of glyphosate, a known carcinogen. In August 2021, another class action lawsuit was filed in Missouri, this time claiming that certain Purina pet food products were falsely advertised as grain free when they contained wheat and/or soy.
Recalls In 2005, Nestlé Purina Petcare voluntarily recalled all of its dry pet food produced from a plant in
La Encrucijada,
Venezuela after an internal investigation verified contaminants that were causing illnesses in pets. According to
Fortune Magazine, in 2007 the pet food market "plunged into turmoil" due to the widespread discovery of contaminated ingredients. During this period, Nestle Purina voluntarily recalled some of its Alpo Prime Cuts in Gravy products in the US that contained wheat gluten from China contaminated with
melamine. In August 2013, Purina recalled some of its Purina ONE Beyond dog food, because of one bag that was found to contain
salmonella. In 2012, a consumer sued Nestlé Purina PetCare when his pet died after eating Waggin' Train treats. The
Food and Drug Administration received more than 900 reports from grieving pet owners that alleged the treatment was causing illness or death in their pets due to chicken products from China. The FDA had issued warnings regarding these ingredients, and the New York State Department of Agriculture & Markets reported finding antibiotics in the chicken used in the Waggin' Train treats that were not legal for consumption in the United States. Later that year, another consumer started a petition on Change.org asking retailers to voluntarily stop carrying the product. The petition attracted 60,000 signatures. The following year, Waggin' Train and Canyon Creek dog treats were voluntarily taken off the market temporarily after the
New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets identified trace amounts of antibiotic residue. In early 2014, a $6.5 million settlement was reached, pending approval by the court. According to
The Washington Post, the company later re-introduced the brands after "revamping its manufacturing process and overhauling its supply chain". In 2019, Nestlé Purina PetCare recalled some of its 'Muse wet cat food' due to potential contamination with black plastic pieces. In 2023, Nestlé Purina Petcare voluntarily recalled some Purina Pro Plan dry dog food in the United States due to elevated levels of Vitamin D. == Products and services ==