Pet Food Processing - January 2024 - 8

BUSINESS BRIEFS
GENERAL MILLS ACQUIRES PET SUPPLEMENT BRAND
General Mills, Inc. expanded its pet portfolio through its acquisition of Fera
Pets, Inc., a holistic pet supplement company co-founded by a veterinarian.
Fera Pets will be integrated into General Mills' new growth equity fund, which
aims to acquire, scale and accelerate " strategically aligned businesses for future
integration into the company's core portfolio, " according to the company.
" The pet wellbeing category is on the rise, as more families look to take
care of their pets the same way they take care of their own health, " said John
Parrish, vice president of disruptive growth at General Mills. " We're excited to
welcome Fera Pets to its new home and look forward to partnering to scale the
brand and bring more high-quality pet supplement products to more pets. "
Fera Pet offers science-backed supplements for pets that fuse Eastern and Western medicinal practices through high-quality
ingredients and veterinary expertise.
" We are thrilled to join the General Mills family and embark on a new chapter of growth for our business, " said Michelle
Dulake, co-founder of the company. " Fera Pets was created after recognizing a lack of transparency in the pet supplement category
and a gap in the market for a holistic approach to our pets' wellbeing. With the support of General Mills' scaling capabilities,
we are looking forward to furthering our mission to create better lives for pets and their families. "
While our study was unable to
identify any dietary correlation
to DCM, we continue to encourage
our peers to perform and publish peerreviewed
controlled studies in order to
improve our understanding of cardiac
function and the development of DCM. "
Stephanie Clark, Ph.D., BSM Partners
Post Holdings to inject up to $100
million into pet food operations
Post Holdings, Inc. is already reaping benefits from its recent
entrance into the pet food category, but there is still work to
be done to fully integrate and optimize the new division, according
to the company's latest financial results.
Post Consumer Brands - a segment that includes the company's
pet food, cereal and peanut butter divisions - reported
net sales of $1.01 billion in the fourth quarter, up 71.5% yearover-year,
of which $404.5 million (roughly 40% of quarterly
revenue) was attributed to pet food sales. Without the benefit
from recent pet food acquisitions, Post Consumer Brands'
volume was down 6.2%.
Post Holdings acquired several pet food brands from The
J.M. Smucker Co. in February and completed its acquisition
of Perfection Pet Foods for $235 million in December 2023.
The company's full-year 2024 guidance includes capital expenditures
of between $90 million to $100 million to enhance
quality, safety, capacity and distribution, as well as fund the
establishment of a pilot plant, for its new pet food segment.
8 PET FOOD PROCESSING | January 2024 | www.petfoodprocessing.net
MicroHarvest unveils pilot plant
MicroHarvest launched its cutting-edge pilot plant in Lisbon,
Portugal. The facility will produce protein samples for its customers,
further allowing MicroHarvest to hone its technology
and test production runs before commercial scale.
" Within just six months of opening our Lisbon office, our
team has doubled in size, and we've achieved an impressive
feat by constructing the pilot plant in record time - a truly
remarkable journey, " said Katelijne Bekers, chief executive officer
of MicroHarvest. " Within the next three months, we are
on track to introduce our first product to the market. These
milestones underscore our commitment to driving real impact
by bringing commercially competitive, consistent and
sustainable ingredients to market fast. "
The company's proprietary technology sustainably produces
high-quality protein ingredients containing more than
60% raw protein within 24 hours. According to MicroHarvest,
its approach significantly reduces resource and raw material
consumption compared to traditional methods of creating
sustainable proteins. It offers highly competitive, scalable and
consistent protein solutions for the animal feed, pet food and
human nutrition industries.
MicroHarvest
Fera Pets, Inc. and General Mills 2023

http://www.petfoodprocessing.net

Pet Food Processing - January 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pet Food Processing - January 2024