Spillers Ltd is a defunct British company that owned flour milling operations in the United Kingdom, operated bakeries and also sold pet food.
Winalot is a popular brand of dog food sold by Spillers.[1] The name was first used in 1927 for dog biscuits. They were initially marketed as a food for racing greyhounds, but soon gained popularity with domestic canines and became a brand leader in the 1930s.[2]
In 1947, Spillers acquired Foster Mill next to the railway station in Station Road, Cambridge.[3]
In 1964, Spillers took over the Kennomeat dog food brand with its acquisition of a subsidiary of Robert Wilson & Sons, Scottish Animal Products Ltd.[2]
In 1979 Spillers was acquired by Dalgety plc,[4] after a hostile take-over battle. The company's bakery business was spun off and sold to Allied Bakeries.[5]
In the late 1990s, following a BSE crisis in the UK, Dalgety entered into a series of disposals and sold Spillers flour milling operations to Kerry Group plc in 1997[6] and its pet foods business to Nestlé in 1997.[7]
The Spillers business was expanded by Nestlé, and the Winalot brand was extended to include a range of dry and tinned dogfoods and snacks.