# Merrick sold to Nestle/Purina



## kmart (Apr 28, 2015)

I was so disappointed when I read about this the other day. I worked so hard to get my parents to feed their dog Merrick. It's really worked well for them. Good quality, easy to find, and not terribly expensive. 

I'm sure the brand will be okay for a little while, but I'm definitely going to suggest they look at other foods. Besides being high quality, I really liked the company and I really DISLIKE Nestle/Purina and hate the thought of supporting them. :at-wits-end:


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## MollyMuiMa (Oct 13, 2012)

You should read the Merrick FaceBook page........major protesting!!!! Everybody saying they are no longer going to buy Merrick!!! Wow! I wonder how long before the formulas change.....................lots of concern out there!


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## sparkyjoe (Oct 26, 2011)

Yes, it's so frustrating.

I have trouble understanding how/why Mr. Merrick truly believes that Nestle/Purina will continue to maintain the integrity and quality of the brand that his family created.

Oh well, I'm really leaning towards one of the Honest Kitchen base mixes and adding meat, or maybe some type of home cooking for at least one meal a day, and maybe a high quality kibble for the other.


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## Poodlebeguiled (May 27, 2013)

That's worrisome to say the least. That is one of the foods I've been using. I'll continue to watch the ingredients or just choose something else. I don't know that the formula will be changed or that it will necessarily go down hill...but it is something to watch. Nestle is the largest food giant in the world. It's hard to imagine that the individual care will be given as it is often with a smaller company. We'll see.


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## PoodleRick (Mar 18, 2013)

sparkyjoe said:


> Yes, it's so frustrating.
> 
> *I have trouble understanding how/why Mr. Merrick truly believes that Nestle/Purina will continue to maintain the integrity and quality of the brand that his family created.*
> 
> Oh well, I'm really leaning towards one of the Honest Kitchen base mixes and adding meat, or maybe some type of home cooking for at least one meal a day, and maybe a high quality kibble for the other.


Everybody has a price. 

Rick


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## Streetcar (Apr 13, 2014)

I read the Merrick family had already sold the company to some investment company. Wonder how Mr. Merrick is really feeling now, though he probably still owned some shares. This is a low blow; I don't want to do anything to benefit a company that is doing what Nestle is with water.
Was just considering adding this to our list of foods the other day; I fed it a LOT to my last dog, but won't now.


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## sparkyjoe (Oct 26, 2011)

PoodleRick said:


> Everybody has a price.
> 
> Rick


I had the same thought, Rick.


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## Girlnotboy (May 28, 2014)

I read this today. I am so disappointed. I am going to find another canned food to feed my tiny poodle.


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## PoodleRick (Mar 18, 2013)

Girlnotboy said:


> I read this today. I am so disappointed. I am going to find another canned food to feed my tiny poodle.


Me to. I recently switched from Merrick Grain Free to Holistic something or other kibble but t still use the Merrick canned food as a topper. Guess I gotta change that to. 

Rick


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## Mfmst (Jun 18, 2014)

i dunno. I would not immediately assume they were going to destroy the quality. They want the people who will pay for grass-fed beef as well as those who can only afford by products. We need more Texas millionaires


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## sparkyjoe (Oct 26, 2011)

For me it's not so much that I believe they will destroy the quality immediately, but I don't trust Purina *at all!* and don't want to support them with my money.


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## LoriT (Jul 11, 2015)

*Ugh!*

Boo on Merrick selling out :angry:


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## Mfmst (Jun 18, 2014)

We still have a dizzying number of dog food choices. Merrick was one of many that Buck wouldn't eat


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## cmarrie (Sep 17, 2014)

I had a conversation with the clerk at my pet store today regarding Merrick. I went in looking to read labels on a laundry list of high end foods, and Merrick's LID line is one he pointed out to me. I commented that I hesitate to move that way with their recent purchase by Purina. He agreed, saying that was understandable with the lack of quality found in their name brand lines. Then he talked about how Purina had purchased the company that makes Zukes dog treats last year, and that so far the formula and quality hasn't changed, but the price has dropped a little. His opinion was that Purina tends to leave these "boutique" companies they acquire to run their formulas as they see fit, but with the corporate backing and $$ that comes with that. 

Whether or not that will continue to be true is impossible to know, but it's an interesting idea. In my opinion, if they were smart, they would recognize the underground food quality movement that's everywhere these days. They would do well to remember that we read labels and we Google ingredients we don't recognize and we are vocal about the good and the bad. They need to understand that we are willing to pay for quality when it comes to our pets. 

I'm sure many of us work for "the man" and know that no corporation can stand to keep their hand out of the cookie jar forever. As it turns out I did not buy any Merrick brand because it contained stuff on my No Fly List: Egg and fermentation products.


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## liljaker (Aug 6, 2011)

Well, the goal with most companies is to get big and profitable and sell and make lots of money, but there are so many good foods on the market and it seems more are being produced all the time!

Sunny has done particularly well on a little lower protein, grain free, chicken free NOW Fresh! by Petcurean. They have other varieties but it just works for him. You may want to check out their website.


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## SusanG (Aug 8, 2009)

My feelings also. I have loved Merrick. My girls are doing so well on it - loved the choices, loved BackWoods. I'm going to keep my eye on the dog food ratings website and sadly will probably have to transition them eventually. It will probably be ok for a while.............


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## SusanG (Aug 8, 2009)

I wrote a protest on the Merrick facebook page. They answered me, saying it will still be under independent control and there are no plans to change ingredients or management. For what that is worth............... at least for now. I'll stay with it for a while to see, but I'm with the rest of you - I don't trust Nestle. It answers to its stockholders, not its customers - and I believe it is no longer American owned. I think it is Swiss?

Whoa, just looked at my picture - gotta change it - Molly is grown up now - and mostly silver!


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## hollyollyc (Dec 2, 2014)

So... I am still in search of a nice kibble topper. Avoiding Merrick just because of my last... not-so-fun-wiggly experience with them. Someone recommended me Whole Earth Farms' chicken and turkey recipe because it is easy to mix in with Jasmin's kibble and make it harder for her to leave kibble behind. Found this in one of their cans, not sure what it is exactly (my thought is shards of bone). Anyways I contacted their customer service rep. via their website and asked if they could identify the ingredient. I was pretty surprised when I got a response from a lady who signed off as, "Pet Parent Relations, Merrick Pet Care, Inc.". Low and behold © Merrick Pet Care Inc. 2015 right at the bottom of their website. So much for me thinking I did enough research. :brick:

Anyways the response I got was "I have sent the picture you provided to our Quality Assurance Team for review. They have opened a few cans, and have not found this in the ones they have opened." So its either a grain (in a grain free product, I don't think they are that careless) or pieces of bone that got caught in the mix.

I haven't fed this to Jasmin because I always hear bad news about feeding cooked bone to dogs and it being a huge no-no. I wonder if I am just unlucky or if the quality of Merrick has been depreciating over time, even before the acquisition from Purina. Is this is a common thing people experience with wet food and it is safe? :struggle:


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## SusanG (Aug 8, 2009)

I've never had a problem with Merrick, any of the food. I'm praying they leave all the recipes alone, just as they are. Actually, they sell one product called wing-a-ling (canned) which has cooked chicken wing bones. My girls love it. I've never heard cooked bone is bad for dogs, but I'd be interested to know if there is information out there about it.


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## hollyollyc (Dec 2, 2014)

Yes, I heard about that and I think... tail gate? But those bones are pressure cooked to be soft. How soft are they?

Also, I hope they are able to keep their recipes as is (for the doggies who do well on it), but it kind of stinks that we are giving money to Purina. :neutral_face:


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## Viking Queen (Nov 12, 2014)

I used to work at a pet food store, locally owned, and we sold a LOT of the merrick canned foods. Wing a ling and Smothered comfort were among the favorites. Wing a ling has whole chicken wings and smothered comfort has the whole chicken thighs, bonee and all. They are pressure cooked at a high enough temp that a chicken thigh bone just crumbles when you squish it with a fork, or your fingers or when your dog eats it. Perfectly safe. Even my Iris, the pickiest eater on earth, will eat Smothered Comfort. She daintily eats the meat, then the bone, then she eats the cooked apples and broth and the rest of the goodies. It is the ONLY canned food on earth she will eat and is perfectly safe as the bones are not sharp, rather crumbly. It is quite a good quality canned food.

Viking Queen


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## hollyollyc (Dec 2, 2014)

Viking Queen said:


> I used to work at a pet food store, locally owned, and we sold a LOT of the merrick canned foods. Wing a ling and Smothered comfort were among the favorites. Wing a ling has whole chicken wings and smothered comfort has the whole chicken thighs, bonee and all. They are pressure cooked at a high enough temp that a chicken thigh bone just crumbles when you squish it with a fork, or your fingers or when your dog eats it. Perfectly safe. Even my Iris, the pickiest eater on earth, will eat Smothered Comfort. She daintily eats the meat, then the bone, then she eats the cooked apples and broth and the rest of the goodies. It is the ONLY canned food on earth she will eat and is perfectly safe as the bones are not sharp, rather crumbly. It is quite a good quality canned food.
> 
> Viking Queen


That was it! Smothered Comfort, haha.
Definitely not the same texture as the shards I found then.  So not intended to be in Chicken and Turkey I washed them and found they had sharp jagged edges.


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