VERY IMPORTANT - P&G buys more quality food

Just found out last weekend that Natura Pet Foods has been purchased by Procter & Gamble.

Natura makes Innova, Evo, California Natural, Healthwise, Mother Nature, and Karma pet foods.

Proctor & Gamble makes Iams and Eukanuba who you may know have been accused of animal testing/cruelty.

Not wanting to get into a food war but at least wanted to let y'all know so you can make your own decisions!

Click here for a a link to an article on the sale

I posted about this weeks ago, but thanks for the reminder again in case some missed it

My dog was on EVO small bites and I was so sad to have to switch him off of it due to this ....he was doing so well & I got so many compliments on his shiny coat (and he's just a Doxie/Min Pin). He's now on Earthborn's grain free and while I think its "okay"...his coat isn't as soft and shiny as when he was on EVO.

I'm not sure if this is related to P&G's acquisition of Natura, but a 3lb bag of Evo went from $4.50 to $7.50 two weeks ago.

I bought a bag last week and was surprised by the price mark-up. The price went up at the two feed stores where I shop.

Has anyone noticed a change in the quality of their Evo dry yet? I'm not sure if Lex's vomiting and leftovers are related to the new bag. Normally he eats it with gusto and doesn't leave leftovers, but he does now.

It's been around $21 for a 6lb bag here for the longest time so $7.50 for a 3lb bag is a good price IMO.

Originally Posted by Cosabella

I'm not sure if this is related to P&G's acquisition of Natura, but a 3lb bag of Evo went from $4.50 to $7.50 two weeks ago.

I bought a bag last week and was surprised by the price mark-up. The price went up at the two feed stores where I shop.

Has anyone noticed a change in the quality of their Evo dry yet? I'm not sure if Lex's vomiting and leftovers are related to the new bag. Normally he eats it with gusto and doesn't leave leftovers, but he does now.

Click to expand...

I understood that the change over would not be official until June. It seems a bit early for any changes to have been made in the food.

The cases of Innova I have been buying are still from pre-buy out dates.

I'm sorry for any confusion, but I know Hi-Tor Neo is made by "Triumph" bet foods, but also I thought Evo as well. Can anyone tell me if this affects Hi-Tor neo?? (Canned)

Evo is made by Natura.

Natura brands are:

Innova
EVO
California Natural
HealthWise
Karma



Isn't Hi Tor a prescription food?

Just found Triumph's website, their foods are:

Evolve
Triumph
Hi Tor veterinary select

Hi Tor Neo is not an RX Food. They do have Rx Foods. I always get them confused with Evo because of Triumph's Evolve brand, I apologize. Hi-Tor Neo isn't available at any of our stores or vet's around here, in fact my vet had never heard of it, but I can get it easily (From PetFoodDirect.com) and just ordered my last case of it for 19 dollars instead of the normal 30 some price tag. No RX required for it.

Sorry for the confusion! Evo, Evolve... my brain playing tricks on me

But for those who are affected by this change, I am so sorry, I would be so ticked. I joined the group on facebook, too.

I decided to go with EVO and Wellness Core with my kitten. No one near me sells Wellness Core so I have to order it online and I was happy a local store carries EVO. Right after i bought my first bag of EVO I found out about P&G. I feel like crying, I don't even want the bag anymore. I'm thinking of swithing to Orijen, Merrick Before Grain, and TOTW.

Just curious... how often has something like this happened (i.e.: big food chain buys out smaller healthy brand)? I would assume it's not that uncommon, correct? I read a bit about Nutro earlier in the thread, but are there more examples? When it does happen, what are the typical results? Does the quality of ingredients decrease?

I was just talking to somebody who feeds their pet Natura products. They contacted a rep and was told that part of the contract stipulates that the formulas cannot change for 2 years. I wonder if that's true...? Has anybody else talked to a Natura rep?

This is really annoying -- we actually just started our kitten on EVO after I did what I thought was a bunch of research (apparently not enough, because I didn't know about the buyout until just now). Does anyone have recommendations for alternatives? I've seen Orijen mentioned a few times, and at least one of our local stores has it. Is it comparable? Any other recs?

Thanks!

Originally Posted by wmarcello

I was just talking to somebody who feeds their pet Natura products. They contacted a rep and was told that part of the contract stipulates that the formulas cannot change for 2 years. I wonder if that's true...? Has anybody else talked to a Natura rep?

Click to expand...

Nutro had a similar "clause" .. did not seem to help... I would ask 2 years from when ... the signing or the initiating of the sale

Royal canin changed

Iams and Eukanuba both were changed ...

Science diet was changed ...

Natures recipe

there are more

Originally Posted by wmarcello

I was just talking to somebody who feeds their pet Natura products. They contacted a rep and was told that part of the contract stipulates that the formulas cannot change for 2 years. I wonder if that's true...? Has anybody else talked to a Natura rep?

Click to expand...

Thing is, they can keep the same formula and ingredients but change the quality of those ingredients.

That's what happened with Nutro, at the beginning of the buy out. The ingredients listed on the bag were exactly the same as the pre-buyout food.

However, my cats would not touch the new batch, even the "eat anything" cats not only wouldn't eat it, they would make a wide berth around the dish with the Nutro in it.

My conclusion was, the quality of the ingredients, the source the manufacturer was using, was cheaper. My cats knew inferior when they were faced with it.

Originally Posted by otto

Thing is, they can keep the same formula and ingredients but change the quality of those ingredients.

That's what happened with Nutro, at the beginning of the buy out. The ingredients listed on the bag were exactly the same as the pre-buyout food.

However, my cats would not touch the new batch, even the "eat anything" cats not only wouldn't eat it, they would make a wide berth around the dish with the Nutro in it.

My conclusion was, the quality of the ingredients, the source the manufacturer was using, was cheaper. My cats knew inferior when they were faced with it.

Click to expand...

In your case I would suspect you got the pre bag change formula change , though many do change quality even with using the same suppliers

Although this buyout was apparently the result of the diminishing health of the owner of Natura, I would have thought this company would be the last one to be bought out. And to P&G? They test on animals for heaven's sake! I predict they will find the cheapest sources, and the quality will change and in 2 years, they will become a grocery store brand. This really freakin' sucks because they are one of the few really quality foods out there. I was just skimming over a book by Marilyn Nestle (can't remember the title) but it's about pet food and the industry. One chapter was how dog foods have evolved and who bought who. Donald Trump couldn't keep track of everything. I think the author also wrote "Food Pets Die For". Not sure if I really buy into her writing as she seems to introduce a good point but then out of her skepticism, she refutes it. Anyway, back to the subject, it really irks me that this has happened. I wish they had included in the contract that they had to keep Natura's sources.

Hey just a note to anyone feeding innova or innova evo...natura is being bought out by proctor and gamble..the same company who makes iams. They promise to keep everything the same until the end of the year. Then they say they will try to keep same ingredients but mention nothing about WHERE they will come from or the quality they will be.
I work at a holistic pet food store which is how I obtained this information. ..its definitely a shame though.

Originally Posted by erickanicole7

Hey just a note to anyone feeding innova or innova evo...natura is being bought out by proctor and gamble..the same company who makes iams. They promise to keep everything the same until the end of the year. Then they say they will try to keep same ingredients but mention nothing about WHERE they will come from or the quality they will be.
I work at a holistic pet food store which is how I obtained this information. ..its definitely a shame though.

Click to expand...

Welcome to TCS, ErickaNicole! It's sweet that the first post you make here is trying to give everyone a heads-up about a food so many consider high-quality. Thanks for the effort!

How many kitties do you have and what are their names?

I was talking to the feed store manager where I buy my Natura products (Innova and California Natural) I asked her if she was planning to continue to carry them and she said it depended on if the demand remained high. So far they are still selling pre buy out stock, but that will change soon, as the best by dates on the Innova in stock is Sept 5, 2010

Tolly will know the difference, if there have been any changes. He is extremely picky and sensitive to any thing weird in his food.

I am trying to think positive, I just don't know what I will do if he hates it. I have already tried everything else with him.