The American manufacturing company J.M. Smucker has announced sales figures for the first quarter of 2024. These reveal that net sales of pet food and treats fell to 441 mio dollars, with profits in Smucker's pet food segment declining by 39 mio dollars. While net sales were down by 288 mio dollars or 40 per cent compared with the same period in fiscal 2023, the profit margin in the first quarter came to 18.4 per cent.
“Excluding the non-comparable net sales of the previous year amounting to 367.7 mio dollars in connection with the pet food brands sold by the company, net sales actually increased by 79.7 mio dollars or 22 per cent,” stated Mark Smucker, president and CEO.
In the pet food segment, comparable net sales rose by 22 per cent over the preceding year, including a 14 per cent gain from contract manufacturing connected to the pet food brands that were sold and strong growth in Meow Mix cat food and Milk-Bone dog treats. With regard to dog treats, net sales of the Milk-Bone brand were up by ten per cent.
Last year, J.M. Smucker sold a number of pet food and treat brands to Post Holdings, a holding company for packaged consumer goods. The transaction included the brands Rachael Ray Nutrish, 9Lives, Kibbles 'n Bits, Nature's Recipe and Gravy Train along with Smucker’s private label pet food business. In 2021, J.M. Smucker Co. sold its dry pet food private label business including production facilities in Frontenac, Kansas, USA, to Diamond Pet Foods, Inc. in a cash transaction worth approximately 33 million US dollars.
In fiscal 2023, the pet division of J.M. Smucker recorded net sales of 1.5 bn dollars not including the sales of the pet food and treat brands divested in 2023. Cat food accounted for 39 per cent of this figure and pet treats for 61 per cent.
