Great brands,
Del Monte focuses on powerful trends
BY JENNY KVAMME, DVM
Del Monte Foods is one
of the largest and most
well-known producers,
distributors and marketers of premium branded and private
label food and pet products for the US
retail market. The San Francisco, California, USA-based company generated
US$3 billion in net sales in fiscal 2006,
with 40% of its sales coming from a
powerful portfolio of 14 pet product
brands including Meow Mix, Kibbles
‘n Bits, 9Lives, Milk-Bone, Pup-Peroni, Gravy Train, Nature’s Recipe,
Snausages, Pounce and Meaty Bone.
Paying attention
Del Monte is, as a company, focused on two very powerful business
trends. The first is “Health and Wellness” on the human side. The second is
“Pet as Family Member.” Del Monte
believes it is uniquely positioned,
given its portfolio and the core
competencies of the total company, to capitalize on those two
powerful trends.
Blending in
Recently, I spoke with Jeff Watters,
senior vice president of Del Monte Pet
Products. He provided his perspective
on how the company has been doing
since its most recent acquisitions. According to Watters, the integration of
both Meow Mix and Milk-Bone has
gone very smoothly. There has been
a positive and immediate response to
the company’s changes in programming and increases in investment in
the brands.
Del Monte’s total market share
of the cat food category is growing
nicely with the addition of Meow Mix.
“We’ve capitalized on the momentum
that Meow Mix had coming into the
acquisition and we’ve actually built off
of that. We have also taken the work
that the Kraft team did on Milk-Bone
and we believe elevated Milk-Bone to
an even better place over the last six
months or so,” he says.
Watters explains that Milk-Bone
was a non-core business for Kraft. “I
think even the Kraft folks at the time
The integration of both Meow
Mix and Milk-Bone has gone
very smoothly for Del Monte Pet
Products.
Business basics
Headquarters: San Francisco,
California, USA
Officer(s): Richard G. Wolford,
chairman of the board, president
and CEO; Jeff Watters, senior vice
president, Del Monte Pet Products
Annual sales: US$3 billion in
fiscal 2006
Brands: Meow Mix, Kibbles ‘n Bits,
9Lives, Milk-Bone, Pup-Peroni, Pounce,
Wagwells, Gravy Train, Jerky Treats,
Canine Carry Outs, Snausages, Nature’s
Recipe, Alley Cat, Meaty Bone
Facilities: 17 production facilities
and 18 distribution centers in North
America; petfood research facilities
in Walnut Creek and Terminal Island,
California, USA. Operating facilities
and distribution centers in American
Samoa, Ecuador and Venezuela
Employees: 1,760
Company website(s):
www.delmonte.com; various brand
websites
