But, > 60% of its $50bn annual Sales comes from its pet food & care focused division!! Mars Inc owns the legendary Pedigree dog food brand & Whiskas cat food brand. 🤯
Even before the modern Mars Inc came into existence, Forrest Mars had purchased Kal Kan in 1968 (which was later re-named Pedigree) using the money from his UK based chocolate business 🔄
The list of recent acquisitions in Petcare by Mars Inc are also very interesting:
(1) Royal Canin (2002): ~$2 billion - premium pet food manufacturer
(2) Banfield Pet Hospital (2007): A nationwide chain of veterinary clinic
(3) VCA Inc. (2017): ~$9.1 billion - A network of 1,000 animal hospitals in the U.S. and Canada
(4) AniCura (2018): ~$2.3 billion - A European network of animal hospitals and clinics
(5) OptiGen (2018): DNA diagnostics company specializing in identifying inherited eye disorders in dogs.
(6) Heska Corporation (2023): ~$1.3 billion - Provider of advanced veterinary diagnostic tools
(7) Champion Petfoods (2023): ~$2 billion - Producer of premium pet food brands
➡️ For anyone interested in the Mars Inc story, I would highly recommend the 3 hour deep dive on Acquired (link in the comments below)
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