This is a press release from Procter & Gamble:
P&G Acquires Natura Pet Products
P&G Expands Further in 'Super Premium' Pet Food Segment
CINCINNATI, May 5, 2010 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ --The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE: PG) has signed an agreement to acquire Natura Pet Products, Inc., a privately-held pet food business based in Davis, California.
This move enables P&G to expand into the attractive "holistic and naturals" segment of the pet food category, complementing P&G's current Iams and Eukanuba brands and helping the Company advance its overall growth strategy of "reaching more consumers in more parts of the world more completely."
Natura's brands include Innova, Evo, California Natural, Healthwise, Mother Nature and Karma. These brands are sold in a limited number of pet specialty stores and through veterinarians, mainly in the United States and Canada.
"These outstanding brands and the great employees of Natura Pet Products will complement our Eukanuba and Iams brands very well," said Dan Rajczak, senior vice president of P&G's global pet care and snacks businesses. "This acquisition gives us a strong position in the holistic and natural pet food segment. It will enable us to enhance the health and well-being of even more dogs and cats and represents an exciting new source of growth for our business."
"It's time for the right company to take our brands to the next level of growth. P&G is that company," said John Rademakers, founder and owner of Natura Pet Products. "We know that P&G will honor our history as they capitalize on their strengths to build these brands."
Natura Pet Products employs about 140 people, mainly at its production sites in San Leandro, California and Fremont, Nebraska. P&G is targeting to close this deal in about a month, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory clearances. Specific terms of the deal are not being disclosed.
About Procter & Gamble
Four billion times a day, P&G brands touch the lives of people around the world. The company has one of the strongest portfolios of trusted, quality, leadership brands, including Pampers(R), Tide(R), Ariel(R), Always(R), Whisper(R), Pantene(R), Mach3(R), Bounty(R), Dawn(R), Gain(R), Pringles(R), Charmin(R), Downy(R), Lenor(R), Iams(R), Crest(R), Oral-B(R), Duracell(R), Olay(R), Head & Shoulders(R), Wella(R), Gillette(R), Braun(R) and Fusion(R). The P&G community includes about 135,000 employees working in about 80 countries worldwide. Please visit http://www.pg.com for the latest news and in-depth information about P&G and its brands.
SOURCE Procter & Gamble
For those not aware of Procter &Gamble, they are a huge conglomerate which manufactures many popular brands including those listed above. Unfortunately, because they are a large corporate entity, the quality of their pet food seems to suffer. All the popular, high-quality pet foods sold by Natura- Innova, Evo, California Naturals, Healthwise and Karma- will now be part of the Procter & Gamble super-conglomerate.
Before you make a decision one way or the other regarding whether to continue feeding foods previously produced by Natura, make sure you do your research into Procter & Gamble to decide whether their values and pet food quality meet your expectations.
Here are a few links to get you started:
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Iams Cruelty- site created by PETA to expose cruel animal testing at IAMS
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Uncaged- more information about Iams animal testing, plus many links
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Chazhound- Forum with pasted letter from P&G to retailers stating quality of Natura will remain the same
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Pet Food Ratings- Site that reviews pet foods from many companies
Rub-a-dub-dub there's a pup in our tub! Have a splashin' bubble bathin' good time at the Pups'n Suds Dog Wash Fundraiser at CH Pet Gifts this Saturday. For a small donation of $5 we'll be offering dog baths using our luxurious pet spa shampoos. From delicious fruity deodorizing scents to puppy formula to hypoallergenic shampoo there will be something available to take care of dogs with any skin type. 
