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 the Ohio State University in 1937, founded the Iams Company in 1946 in a small feed mill near Dayton, Ohio.^[5] In the 1950s, he developed the world's first animal-based protein dry dog food and called it Iams 999.^[1][6] In 1969, Paul Iams wanted to differentiate the new formula from other Iams products. Iams chose to name this new formula "Eukanuba", a term originated by jazz era personality Hoagy Carmichael, meaning "the tops" or "something supreme".^{[dubious – discuss]}

During the 1973 Arab oil embargo, the cost of meat and bone meal tripled, while sale prices in the U.S. were frozen under Phase I of President Richard Nixon's Economic Stabilization Program.^[7] Iams did not change its product formula during this period, and the company nearly went bankrupt as a result.^[4] Clay Mathile, who had joined Iams in 1970, purchased half of the company in 1975.^[8] In 1982, he became its sole owner and president.^[9] Having increased company revenue from $100,000 in 1970 to $900 million in 1999, Mathile sold Iams to Procter & Gamble in September 1999.^[5][10]

In its largest divestiture in five years, Procter & Gamble announced in April 2014 that it would sell the Iams, Eukanuba, and Natura pet-food brands in all markets except Europe to Mars, Inc. for $2.9 billion in cash. Mars said that the deal would allow it to gain a new business 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. P&G also exercised options to acquire Mars's pet-food business in some parts of Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa, including Australia, Japan and Singapore.^[12][13] Procter & Gamble sold its European pet-care business to Spectrum Brands in December 2014.^[14]