Purina Mills

Last updated
Purina Mills, LLC
Purina Animal Nutrition, LLC
Type Subsidiary
Industry Animal feeds
FoundedJanuary 8, 1894;129 years ago (1894-01-08) in St. Louis, Missouri, USA
Headquarters100 Danforth Drive, ,
USA
Area served
United States
Key people
William H. Danforth, Founder
Products
  • Livestock food
  • Animal health products
Parent
Website purinamills.com

Purina Mills, LLC is the farm animal feeds unit of Land O' Lakes. It was previously part of Ralston Purina, until the U.S. animal feeds portion was first sold in 1986.

Contents

History

Purina traces its roots back to 1894, when founder William H. Danforth began producing feed for various farm animals under the name Purina Mills. The predominant brand for each animal was generally referred to as "Chow"; hence there was "Purina Horse Chow", "Purina Dog Chow", "Purina Cat Chow", "Purina Rabbit Chow", "Purina Pig Chow", and even "Purina Monkey Chow". Later, in 1902, he merged with university professor Webster Edgerly, founder of Ralstonism, who was at the time producing breakfast cereals, to form the "Ralston Purina Company". [1]

Ralston Purina sold Purina Mills, the U.S. animal feed business, to British Petroleum in 1986, while retaining the pet food and international animal feed businesses. In 1993, the Sterling Group of Houston led a leveraged buyout of Purina Mills. In 1998, it was purchased by Koch Industries, but a U.S. bankruptcy court cancelled out all equity held by Koch to maintain the company's viability. Purina Mills was purchased by Land O'Lakes in 2001. [2]

Licensing rights

Purina Mills licenses the Purina and Chow brands for the United States and its territories (including Puerto Rico) from the successor of the Ralston Purina Company and owner of the trademarks, Nestlé Purina PetCare.

Outside of the U.S., the rights to the Purina and Chow brands for animal feeds are licensed to Cargill [3] [4] by Nestle Purina PetCare.

Mason Transfer and Grain Co., bonded warehouse on the south Texas border, storing "Purina Chows" and bearing the Purina checkerboard markings. Taken by Robert Runyon c. 1900-1920. Bonded warehouse.JPG
Mason Transfer and Grain Co., bonded warehouse on the south Texas border, storing "Purina Chows" and bearing the Purina checkerboard markings. Taken by Robert Runyon c. 1900-1920.

Ralston Purina was famed for its "checkerboard" trademark. The inspiration for the Ralston Purina logo came from a family from founder William Danforth's childhood who dressed in checkerboard cloth. [5] The checkerboard trademark, intended to make their burlap bags of feed stand out from competitors, was introduced in 1904. [6] Ralston Purina’s headquarters was called Checkerboard Square. At one point, Ralston Purina owned an interest in the St. Louis Blues National Hockey League team; during this period, the arena they then used was referred to as the "Checkerdome".

The checkerboard logo then evolved into a personal development concept Danforth put forth in his book I Dare You, in which he proposed that four key components in life ("Physical," "Mental," "Social," and "Religious") need to be in balance, and one area was not to develop at expense of the other. [7] The concept became intertwined with the company in 1921, when it began selling feed that was pressed in cubes called "checkers". [8]

Related Research Articles

Land O'Lakes, Inc. is an American member-owned agricultural cooperative based in the Minneapolis-St. Paul suburb of Arden Hills, Minnesota, United States, focusing on the dairy industry. The cooperative has 1,959 direct producer-members, 751 member-cooperatives, and about 9,000 employees who process and distribute products for about 300,000 agricultural producers, handling 12 billion pounds of milk annually. It is ranked third on the National Cooperative Bank Co-op 100 list of mutuals and cooperatives. The co-op is one of the largest producers of butter and cheese in the United States through its dairy foods business; serves producers, animal owners and their families through more than 4,700 local cooperatives, independent dealers and other large retailers through its Purina Animal Nutrition business; and delivers seed, crop protection products, agricultural services and agronomic insights to 1,300 locally owned and operated cooperative and independent agricultural retailers and their grower customers through its WinField United business.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ralstonism</span>

Ralstonism was a social movement in the United States in the 19th century. It claimed about 800,000 followers. Ralstonism was the brainchild of Webster Edgerly (1852–1926). In Edgerly's words, "Ralstonism is the grandest movement that man is capable of establishing".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ralston Purina</span> American animal feed, food and pet food company

Ralston Purina Company was a St. Louis, Missouri,–based American conglomerate with substantial holdings in animal feed, food, pet food, consumer products, and entertainment. On December 12, 2001, it merged with Swiss food-giant Nestlé's Friskies division to form Nestlé Purina PetCare Company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nestlé Purina PetCare</span> American pet food manufacturer, subsidiary of the Swiss corporation Nestlé

Nestlé Purina Petcare, or simply Purina, is an American subsidiary of the Swiss corporation Nestlé, based in St. Louis, Missouri. It produces and markets pet food, treats, cat and dog litter. Some of its pet food brands include Purina Pro Plan, Purina Dog Chow, Friskies, Beneful and Purina One. The company was formed in 2001 by combining Nestlé's Friskies Petcare Company with Ralston Purina, which acquired it for $10.3 billion. As of 2012, it is the second-largest pet food company globally, and the largest in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chex</span> General Mills breakfast cereal

Chex is an American brand of breakfast cereal currently manufactured by General Mills. It was originally produced and owned by Ralston Purina of St. Louis, Missouri, using the name Chex starting in 1950. The Chex brand went with corporate spinoff Ralcorp in 1994. and was then sold to General Mills in 1997. Rival cereal company Kellogg's has the rights to the Chex brand in South Korea and Singapore.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William H. Danforth</span> American businessman (1870–1955)

William H. Danforth was an American businessman known for founding Ralston Purina in St. Louis, Missouri in 1894. He was a co-founder of the American Youth Foundation (AYF) and the author of the book, I Dare You!.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beggin' Strips</span> Brand of dog treats

Beggin’ Strips is an American brand of pet food and pet snack manufactured by Nestlé Purina PetCare. The product was first manufactured by Ralston Purina. The product's tagline is "Dogs Don't Know It's Not Bacon," which appeared in U.S. television commercials in the 1990s. The product is manufactured to resemble bacon strips.

Purina may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chex Mix</span> Snack mix

Chex Mix is a type of snack mix that includes Chex breakfast cereal as a major component.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allen Family Foods</span> American food processor

Allen Family Foods was a large American producer and exporter of chicken, headquartered in Seaford, Delaware. Founded in 1919 by Charles C. Allen and Nellie G. Allen as a small local hatchery. At one time Allen Family Foods was the world's 18th-largest producer of chicken products, producing 10.5 million pounds of finished products per week. Their network of 500 independent growers houses 25 million chickens at any given time. It employed 3,400 people in three states, with an annual payroll of $90 million. under the slogan is "The Quality Chicken People".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alpo (pet food)</span> Dog food brand

Alpo is an American brand of dog food marketed and manufactured by the Nestlé Purina PetCare subsidiary of Nestlé. The brand is offered as a canned or packaged soft food, as well as in dry kibbles.

Petfinder is an internet company that operates the largest online pet adoption website serving all of North America. The company reports that it currently lists “more than 315,000 adoptable pets from nearly 14,000 animal shelters and rescue groups.” A commercial enterprise founded in 1996, it is now owned by Nestlé Purina PetCare Company and reports that it has facilitated more than 22 million pet adoptions as of 2013. Most of the pets listed on Petfinder are dogs and cats, but they list all types of animals available from shelters and rescue groups, from small fish, reptiles and birds to horses and livestock.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Purina One</span>

Purina One, styled as Purina ONE, is a brand of premium dog and cat food made by Nestlé Purina PetCare. Purina ONE foods typically contain some type of meat as their first named ingredient, while still containing by-products, grain fragments, and whole corn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beneful</span> Brand of dog food products

Beneful is a brand of dog food products by Nestlé Purina PetCare global that includes wet dog food, dry dog food and dog treats. As of 2012, it was the fourth most popular dog food brand, generating more than $1.5 billion in annual revenues. According to a SWOT analysis by Marketline, Beneful is one of Nestle Purina's more significant brands by revenue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Friskies</span> American brand of cat food and treats

Friskies is an American brand of wet and dry cat food and treats owned by Nestlé Purina PetCare Company, a subsidiary of Nestlé global. Friskies was initially introduced by Carnation Company in the 1930s as a dog food brand. When Friskies cat food was introduced in the 1950s, it was the first dry pet food product specifically for cats. The brand was acquired by Nestlé in 1985. From the 1970s to the 2000s, variations in Friskies cat food proliferated as the competition for consumer spending intensified.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ralcorp</span> Manufacturer of various food products

Ralcorp Holdings is a manufacturer of various food products, including breakfast cereal, cookies, crackers, chocolate, snack foods, mayonnaise, pasta, and peanut butter. The company is based in St. Louis, Missouri. The majority of the items Ralcorp makes are private-label, store-brand products. It has over 9,000 employees. Ralcorp has its headquarters in the Bank of America Plaza in downtown St. Louis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spillers</span>

Spillers Ltd was a British company that owned flour milling operations, operated bakeries and also sold pet food and equine feeds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frosty Paws</span> Brand of ice cream for dogs

Frosty Paws, formerly Pet79 and Fido Freeze, is a brand of ice cream, specifically formulated and sold for dogs. It is produced by Nestlé, under their Nestlé Dreyer's Ice Cream Company ice cream unit, branded under the Purina brand name.

W. Patrick "Pat" McGinnis is the former CEO of Nestlé Purina PetCare Company, serving in that position from 2001 to 2015; and non-executive chairman of the board from January 2015 to January 2017.

References

  1. Carman, Tim (2009-04-16), "Food History Potpourri: Ralston Purina's D.C. Roots", Washington City Paper, retrieved 2009-10-19
  2. "History of Purina Mills, Inc. – FundingUniverse".
  3. "Cargill Feed: Brands - Purina®".
  4. "Cargill Feed: About - History".
  5. "A Glimpse from the Past to the Present". Société des Produits Nestlé S.A., Vevey, Switzerland. Archived from the original on 2017-07-10. Retrieved 2009-10-19.
  6. "About Purina | Purina Animal Nutrition".
  7. Danforth, William. I Dare You!. Kessinger Publishing, LLC. ISBN   0-7661-2786-9.
  8. "William H. Danforth, Founder". PURINA. Archived from the original on March 30, 2014. Retrieved 2015-02-18.