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Who are the top 5 highest quality dry dog food (extrusion-based) co-packers in the United States with current capacity?
Hi! Thank you for your request to research the top 5 highest quality dry dog food (extrusion-based) co-packers in the United States with current capacity.
The short version is I found no list of extrusion-based co-packers of dry dog food in the US but I have collated lists of co-packers in the US which may be contacted individually to inquire whether they process dry dog food using extrusion process.
Below you will find a deep dive of my research along with methodology and description of results.
METHODOLOGY
To answer your query, I looked for listings of extrusion-based co-packers or contract manufacturers for dry dog food in the U.S. These were not readily available as most lists focus on general contract manufacturers. In my research I located a 2014 round-up article for the pet food extrusion industry from Pet Food Industry.com. I signed up with the site to access the article and found that the site lists companies for the extrusion segment of the pet food industry. However, the 'extrusion segment' refers to extrusion equipment providers and not extrusion-based co-packers. The website also lists co-packers for pet food companies, but no function for searching extrusion-based co-packers exist in this site or in the other resources I have researched. In spite of my failure to locate the top 5 companies or even a list of extrusion-based co-packers or contract manufacturers for dry dog food, I have collated lists of co-packers in the US which may be contacted individually to inquire whether they process dry dog food using extrusion process. I also included the extrusion industry roundup from Pet Food Industry.com. Please read on to see the results of my research.
The Association for Contract Packagers and Manufacturers provide a listing of co-packers in the US. A search request for pet food co-packers in the US yield more than 20 results including Aaron Thomas Company, Inc. (Illinois/Tennessee), Coregistics (Chicago/New Jersey/Ohio/Indiana), and Assemblies Unlimited (California).
PET FOOD INDUSTRY CO-PACKERS LISTING
The website Pet Food Industry.com lists co-packers in its database but with no distinction whether they are extrusion-based. Here is the online listing of co-packers in the US. I also found a 2011 listing for co-packers (p.63) from the pdf version of its magazine.
The report "The State of Dog Food Today" mentions both Simmons and Diamond as major players in the pet food industry as well as being private labelers and co-packers. According to the article, both companies packed for store brands and big brands including:
• Simmons (acquired Menu Foods in 2010) - private labeler and co-packer of canned food for Blue Buffalo, Canidae, Life’s Abundance, Nature’s Logic, Ol’Roy, Dogswell, Evolve, Petcurean, Nature’s Variety, and others
• Diamond - private labeler and co-packer of dry food for 4Health, Apex, Candiae, Chicken Soup, Country Value, Diamond, Kirkland, Natural Balance, Nature’s Domain, Premium Edge, Professional, Solid Gold, Taste of the Wild and Wellness (one variety)
This article provides a list of higher volume extrusion equipment providers to the pet food industry. I checked for more recent round-ups but there was no follow-up article after 2014. The companies listed in this round-up are: Coperion, Buhler Aeroglide, Wenger, Ever Extruder, Extru-Tech, Geelen Counterflow, and Amadus Kahl.
CONCLUSION
To wrap it up, I found no list of extrusion-based co-packers of dry dog food in the US but I have collated lists of co-packers in the US which may be contacted individually to inquire whether they process dry dog food using extrusion process. Diamond and Simmons are also mentioned as top players in the pet food industry as well as being co-packers. Diamond co-packs dry food for a number of store brands and big brands.
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