Alpo (pet food)

Alpo
Private
Industry Pet food
Founded 1936
Area served
 Worldwide
Products Dog food
Owner Nestlé Purina PetCare
Website www.alpo.com

Alpo is an American brand of dog food marketed and manufactured by the Nestlé Purina PetCare subsidiary of Nestlé. The brand is offered as a canned or packaged soft food, as well as in dry kibbles.

History

Alpo, an abbreviation of Allen Products, was founded in 1936 by Robert F. Hunsicker in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The original factory was located in a small building at the southwest corner of New and Cedar streets. The industrial stench of the Alpo plant, however, caused numerous complaints by the people living in the area, as the New and Cedar street area was primarily row homes. After World War II, the dog food plant was moved out of the city to a rural area to the northwest named Guthsville. The factory remains located there today.

In 1964, the Allen Products Company was acquired by Liggett & Myers Tobacco Company. In 1980, the Liggett & Myers Tobacco Company was acquired by Grand Metropolitan and in 1986 Grand Metropolitan sold the Liggett Group but kept Alpo Petfoods, Inc. In 1995, Nestlé SA acquired Alpo Petfoods, Inc. from Grand Metropolitan. In January 2001, Nestlé SA announced the merger of Nestlé Friskies with Ralston Purina to form the Nestlé Purina PetCare Company.[1]

Marketing

For many years, the brand's main television commercial spokesman was Lorne Greene, who created the concept of eating one's own dog food by claiming that Alpo is so good he feeds it to his own dogs. Ed McMahon also had a long association with the product on television, and Garfield was a "spokescat" for the brand in the 1990s. Alpo was the sponsor of the debut broadcast of the long-running television news magazine 60 Minutes, on September 24, 1968.

Alpo is also known for its marketing campaigns that target the owners of "real dogs," making light of consumers who pamper their dogs.[2][3]

References

  1. ↑ Carman, Tim (2009-04-16), "Food History Potpourri: Ralston Purina’s D.C. Roots", Washington City Paper, retrieved 2009-10-19
  2. ↑ "Alpo Gets to the Meat of the Problem". BrandWeek. 2009-02-27.
  3. ↑ Brian Quinton (2009-08-20). "Alpo Contest on the Hunt for Just Plain Dogs". Promo Magazine.
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