ORRVILLE, OHIO — The J.M. Smucker Co. announced Dec. 1 it has sold off its private label dry pet food business to Diamond Pet Foods, Inc. for roughly $33 million. The divestiture includes the sale of its manufacturing facility in Frontenac, Kan.
"This divestiture enables us to focus investments and resources on areas of our pet food and pet snacks business positioned for growth and profitability, including driving category growth in dog snacks, building upon our momentum in cat food – particularly with Meow Mix®, and stabilizing Nutrish® dog food by growing consumer demand," said Rob Ferguson, senior vice president and general manager of pet food and pet snacks at The J.M. Smucker Co.
For the fiscal year ended April 30, 2021, the private label dry dog food business netted approximately $95 million in sales for Smucker’s. In February, the company sold its Natural Balance brand to Nexus Capital Management for roughly $50 million. The Natural Balance business generated net sales of approximately $220 million for Smucker’s fiscal year ended April 30, 2020.
Smucker’s assured the sale of its private label dry dog food business will not affect any branded products or its private label wet pet food business.
The company, which recently released its second-quarter earnings, has updated its full-year guidance for the fiscal year 2022 to reflect this divestiture.
Full-year net sales are now expected to be flat or down 1% compared to fiscal 2021. This guidance reflects several other divestitures made by the company over the last year, including Natural Balance and Crisco. Excluding these three divestitures, net sales are expected to increase by 4.5%, according to the company.
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