Mars to Buy Champion Petfoods

Nov. 2, 2022

Canadian company specializes in premium pet nutrition.

Mars Petcare has announced plans to acquire Champion Petfoods, a processor of premium, high-nutrition pet food.

Terms of the deal, which is expected to close in the first half of next year, were not disclosed. Champion, a privately held company based in Canada, had estimated revenue of $200 million last year. It exports to 90 countries, specializing in “biologically appropriate pet foods [that] nourish dogs and cats the way nature intended them to eat naturally in the wild,” according to a statement from Mars.

Champion is currently owned by an investor group led by Bedford Capital and Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan. It had reportedly been in talks with Nestlé Purina about an acquisition in 2018.

“We are thrilled to welcome Champion Petfoods and its more than 800 talented people to the Mars Petcare family,” Ikdeep Singh, global president of Mars Pet Nutrition, said in the company statement. “The Champion Petfoods team has been a pioneer in developing high-quality and premium pet food in the natural category that pet lovers around the world trust.”

About the Author

Pan Demetrakakes | Senior Editor

Pan has written about the food and beverage industry for more than 25 years. His areas of coverage have included formulations, processing, packaging, marketing and retailing. Pan worked for Food Processing Magazine for six years in the 1990s, where he was operations editor (his current role), touring dozens of food plants of every description. He has also worked for Packaging and Food & Beverage Packaging magazines, the latter as chief editor, during which he won three ASBPE awards. He is a graduate of Stanford University with a BA in communications.