Who Makes Iams Dog Food?
Iams and Eukanuba dog food are made by Mars Petcare, the pet care arm of privately held Mars Incorporated. Mars bought Iams from Procter & Gamble in 2014.
Quick Answer
Iams and Eukanuba dog food are made by Mars Petcare Inc., the pet care division of the privately held Mars Incorporated of McLean, Virginia. Mars bought the Iams and Eukanuba brands from Procter & Gamble in a 2.9 billion dollar deal that closed in October 2014.
Iams and Eukanuba dry kibble for the North American market is manufactured at Mars Petcare plants in Aurora, Nebraska; Fort Smith, Arkansas; and Henderson, North Carolina. Wet food is produced at Mars Petcare canning sites in the US.
The Parent Company
Mars Petcare is the largest pet care company in the world by revenue, at roughly 25 billion dollars annually. It sits inside Mars Incorporated alongside chocolate (M&M's, Snickers, Twix, Milky Way), gum and mints (Wrigley, Extra, Skittles) and food (Uncle Ben's / Ben's Original, Dolmio).
Mars Petcare's pet food brands include Iams, Eukanuba, Pedigree, Cesar, Whiskas, Sheba, Royal Canin, Nutro, Greenies, Temptations, Sheba and Champion Petfoods (Orijen and Acana). It also owns the VCA, Banfield and BluePearl veterinary hospital networks in the US.
How Iams Started
Iams was founded in 1946 by Paul Iams, an animal nutritionist in Dayton, Ohio. The original Iams product was one of the first commercial dry dog foods based on animal protein rather than the grain based rations then common in the pet food industry.
Procter & Gamble acquired Iams in 1999 for 2.3 billion dollars to enter the pet food category. P&G ran Iams for 15 years and expanded distribution significantly, but decided to exit the pet food business in 2014 as part of its broader portfolio simplification. Mars bought Iams and Eukanuba from P&G in October 2014.
Where Iams Is Made
Since the 2014 acquisition Mars has operated Iams and Eukanuba out of its own North American pet food plant network. Dry kibble is produced at Mars Petcare plants in Aurora, Nebraska; Fort Smith, Arkansas; and Henderson, North Carolina.
Wet Iams and Eukanuba is produced at Mars Petcare wet food plants including Columbus, Ohio and Clinton, Oklahoma. Mars Petcare publishes plant of manufacture information on request through its consumer care line.
Iams product sold in the US and Canada is made in the US. Iams sold in Europe is produced at Mars Petcare plants in the Netherlands and Poland.
How Iams Compares To Rivals
Iams competes primarily with Purina Dog Chow, Purina ONE and Pedigree in the mass market grocery and mass retail channel. Its closest premium competitor is Blue Buffalo Life Protection Formula (General Mills).
Eukanuba, the premium sibling brand, competes with Purina Pro Plan and Royal Canin in the pet specialty channel. Both brands benefit from Mars Petcare's enormous distribution network and from the Waltham Centre for Pet Nutrition, Mars's dedicated research institute in the United Kingdom.
How To Trace Any Product Back To Its Manufacturer
- Read the fine print on the label. US and EU packaging law requires either the manufacturer name or a "distributed by" address. That is your starting point.
- Search the company's SEC filings. Public parent companies list subsidiaries and manufacturing sites in their 10-K annual reports.
- Check the regulator establishment number. For food, drugs, cosmetics, cars and appliances, the plant of origin can often be looked up in public regulatory databases.
- Follow the money. Press releases about acquisitions and joint ventures are the fastest way to spot who really controls a brand today.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Iams still made by Procter & Gamble? No. Procter & Gamble sold Iams and Eukanuba to Mars Petcare in October 2014. Mars is the current owner.
Where is Iams manufactured? North American Iams is manufactured at Mars Petcare plants in Aurora Nebraska, Fort Smith Arkansas and Henderson North Carolina.
Is Eukanuba the same as Iams? They are sister brands both owned by Mars Petcare. Eukanuba is positioned as the premium tier and Iams as the mainstream tier.
Is Mars Petcare bigger than Nestle Purina? Yes. Mars Petcare is the largest pet care company in the world by revenue, ahead of Nestle Purina.
What This Means For The Shopper
Understanding who makes Iams dog food today matters for a few practical reasons. First, corporate ownership tells you who is legally responsible for the product, who handles a warranty claim, and where a safety recall would come from. Second, ownership determines the supply chain: brands owned by the same parent often share components, factories, technology and even entire platforms, which is why you sometimes see nearly identical products under different labels at very different prices.
Third, ownership tells you which alternatives are functionally the same product. Whether it is a paper mill, a contract apparel factory or an auto assembly line, the same site frequently produces for several brands at once under different specifications. That is why store brand and lower priced siblings can be a smart substitute for the marquee Iams product when you do not need the marketing.
What To Watch Going Forward
Consumer brand ownership keeps consolidating. In the past five years alone, several major consumer brands (including some that makes Iams dog food) have moved between parent companies through spin offs, sales and joint ventures. Expect more of the same over the next five years as conglomerates rationalize portfolios and as private equity continues to reshape mid cap consumer brands.
If you buy from Iams regularly and care about who profits from your purchase, it is worth checking the label, sticker or badge every year or two. Ownership changes are usually announced in trade press but rarely make consumer headlines, so most shoppers miss them until the packaging or branding gets a subtle redesign to reflect the new parent company.
Bottom Line
Iams and Eukanuba have been Mars Petcare brands since October 2014. They are made in the United States at Mars owned pet food plants and share a corporate parent with Pedigree, Royal Canin, Cesar and the VCA veterinary hospital chain.