United Petfood Buys Wellness Pet's Arkansas Plant for $24.22 Million, Its Second Acquisition From the Same Seller
The Ghent-based private-label manufacturer picks up the 98,063-square-foot Decatur dry pet food plant plus a long-term supply deal, making Arkansas its third North American production site.
By Good Company Editorial Desk
The News
United Petfood has closed on another piece of American manufacturing. The Ghent, Belgium-based private-label pet food manufacturer acquired a dry pet food plant in Decatur, Arkansas from Wellness Pet Company for $24.22 million, or $247 per square foot, according to Benton County records reported by Talk Business & Politics on October 9.
The four-story, 98,063-square-foot plant sits on 45.98 acres at 2565 Arkansas Highway 59 North, with several buildings dating to 2010. According to a company news release, the two companies signed a long-term supply agreement as part of the transaction, a structure that keeps product flowing while the ownership of the building changes hands.
The deal was first announced as a definitive agreement on September 22. It is the second time United Petfood has bought a facility from Wellness Pet, following its acquisition of a Wellness plant in Mishawaka, Indiana in June 2024. Decatur becomes the company's third North American production site, joining Mishawaka and the Jupiter facility in Drummondville, Quebec acquired from Legault Group last April.
The Decatur site gives us additional capacity and flexibility to respond to our customers' needs. It is another important step in strengthening our production footprint across North America. By expanding our local presence, we can combine the advantages of local production with the expertise and capabilities of our international network of pet kitchens, enabling us to continue growing alongside our customers.
Dries Eeckhout, CEO of United Petfood Group
Why It Matters
This is the co-man consolidation wave in motion. Across the pet food industry, contract manufacturing capacity is being snapped up at a rapid clip. In May, Golden Pet Brands closed on its acquisition of Scoular's 170,000-square-foot Petsource freeze-dried plant in Seward, Nebraska, taking capacity that had served many independent freeze-dried brands in-house. In February, France's Nasta acquired Canadian premium manufacturer First Mate, expanding its North American manufacturing base. United Petfood's Decatur purchase fits the same pattern, and PackWorld's reporting on co-man strategy points to the lesson for brands: companies relying on a single co-manufacturer should be lining up contingency capacity.
The deal structure matters as much as the asset. Wellness Pet, the Burlington, Massachusetts-based branded manufacturer, is monetizing real estate and equipment while retaining product supply through the long-term agreement. It is a capital-light move for a branded company: cash in, kibble out. For United Petfood, it is the reverse, a capacity play that deepens an existing relationship. The company says it makes more than 1.4 million tons of pet food across 31 pet kitchens, employs more than 3,500 people, and exports to more than 95 countries. Decatur extends that network into a third North American market and gives the Belgian manufacturer more room to grow with private-label and branded clients on this side of the Atlantic.
The Numbers
The headline figure is $24.22 million for 98,063 square feet ($247 per square foot) on 45.98 acres in western Benton County, Arkansas. That price comes with a notable wrinkle: Wellness Pet bought the same property in April 2022 for $26.5 million from Siloam Springs-based Simmons Foods Inc., according to Talk Business & Politics. By that math, Wellness sold the site for roughly $2.3 million less than it paid four years ago, even as a long-term supply agreement softened the exit.
Scale-wise, United Petfood's North American footprint now spans three sites: Mishawaka, Indiana; Drummondville, Quebec; and Decatur, Arkansas. Company figures put its global operation at more than 1.4 million tons of pet food per year, over 3,500 employees, 31 pet kitchens, and exports reaching more than 95 countries. The Decatur plant's buildings were largely built in 2010, a relatively modern asset compared with much of the industry's older capacity.
What To Watch
First, watch whether United Petfood keeps buying. Two acquisitions from Wellness in two years, plus the Legault facility in Quebec, show a deliberate and accelerating North American buildout. Any additional plant deals would confirm the Belgian company intends to challenge the big domestic co-mans on their home turf.
Second, watch for more branded companies following Wellness's playbook. Selling a plant while signing a supply agreement frees capital for marketing and product development without disrupting availability. If pet food valuations stay high and interest rates keep financing costs up, more brand owners may choose to be customers of capacity rather than owners of it.
Third, watch what this does to private-label pricing power. As consolidation concentrates manufacturing in fewer hands, the economics of the bag shift upstream. Brands that depend on co-mans for kibble, treats, and freeze-dried formats face a market where their supplier may also be their competitor's supplier, and capacity allocation becomes a negotiation.
Sources
United Petfood expands North American footprint with new facility acquisition (Pet Food Processing)