Iams

During the 1940s, because pet food was not available in stores, animals were predominantly fed homemade food, usually table scraps.[4] Paul Iams, an animal nutritionist who graduated from Ohio State University in 1937, founded The Iams Company in 1946 in a small feed mill near Dayton.[5] In 1950, he developed the world’s first animal-based protein, dry dog food and called it Iams 999.[1][6] In 1969, Paul Iams formulated a new dog food and named it Eukanuba. Prior to founding Iams and Eukanuba, he worked for a number of companies including his father’s feed business in Dayton, Ohio.

In 1973 during the Arab oil embargo, the costs for meat and bone meal tripled, but sale prices in the US were frozen by a nationwide wage and price control issued by then-President Richard Nixon.[7] Iams did not change the product formula during the price freeze mandate and the company nearly went broke.[4] Clay Mathile, who joined Iams in 1970, purchased half of the company in 1975.[8] By 1982, he became the sole owner and president.[9] After expanding the company from $100,000 revenue in 1970 to $900 million in 1999, Mathile sold it to P&G in September 1999.[5][10] In July 2006, P&G reorganized the Pet Health & Nutrition division into P&G Pet Care (consisting of the Iams and Eukanuba brands).

In its largest divestiture in five years, Procter & Gamble announced in April 2014 that it would sell its Iams, Eukanuba and Natura pet food brands in all markets except Europe to Mars, Incorporated for $2.9 billion in cash. P&G said the deal would allow it to lose a slow performer and generate cash to grow core businesses.[11] The deal for P&G Pet Care's operations in North America and Latin America was completed in August 2014. Mars, Inc also exercised options to acquire P&G’s pet food business in some parts of Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa, including Australia, Japan and Singapore.[12][13] P&G sold its European pet care business to Spectrum Brands in December 2014.[14]

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