area served worldwide products dog food owner nestl purina petcare website www.beneful.com beneful is a brand of dog food products by nestle purina petcare that includes wet dog food dry dog food and dog treats . 1 as of 2012 it was the fourth most popular dog food brand 2 generating more than 1.5 billion in annual revenues . 3 according to a swot analysis by marketline beneful is one of nestle purina s more significant brands by revenue . 4 contents 1 history 2 products 3 controversy 4 references history edit the beneful brand of dog food was introduced to the market in 2001 . 5 it was marketed on the basis of nutrition 6 7 and appearance ; it resembled stew and contained beef pieces . 8 9 according to a company spokesperson the term beneful means full of goodness . 6 a 34 million beneful television advertising campaign that aired that year was the largest in nestle purina s history . 10 11 by the end of 2006 beneful was generating 300 million in revenues . 12 in the same year the company invested 36 million to upgrade facilities in st. joseph missouri to produce more wet food . 12 13 in 2010 beneful attempted to humanize its dog food and introduced incredibites a food in stay fresh packaging with a smaller kibble size . 14 beneful released a series of posters in germany designed to attract dogs by releasing the smell of dog food . 15 following the poster promotion in 2011 beneful started airing television ads in austria that included high pitch noises only dogs could hear to elicit a response from pets . 15 16 17 interactive billboards from beneful were released in new york in may 2012 allowing people to play virtual fetch in a subway station . the dogs on the billboard can be customized and will follow a passerby to engage them . the billboards have also been installed in chicago los angeles atlanta and st. louis . 18 19 20 beneful hosts an annual competition the beneful dream dog park contest in which dog park designs are submitted for renovations . in 2013 1 000 dog park designs were submitted for the 500 000 renovation . the program has produced parks in johns creek georgia alabaster alabama and lancaster pennsylvania . 21 22 23 products edit beneful exclusively produces food for dogs including dry food wet or canned food and various snacks . 24 the beneful healthy harvest product line added in june 2005 was the company s first premium dry dog food to feature soy as the main protein source rather than meat . 5 25 beneful prepared meals were introduced in march 2006 . with eight flavors the line featured resealable multipurpose packaging where the containers also serve as a dog food bowl . 12 beneful s packaging was recognized with the pack expo selects award at the showcase of packaging innovations in 2007 . 26 controversy edit in february 2015 a class action lawsuit was filed in california federal court against nestle purina petcare alleging that the propylene glycol and mycotoxins contained in its beneful dog food brand were toxins capable of poisoning and even killing pets . according to purina the company uses food grade versions of the ingredients that are approved by the food and drug administration fda and is common in food items such as salad dressings and cake mix . 27 according to the plaintiff there were over 3 000 complaints from dog owners with pets showing symptoms consistent with mycotoxin poisoning such as vomiting diarrhea weight loss and seizures . 28 veterinarians have said grieving pet owners often falsely attribute ambiguous non specific symptoms to food . 29 tests by the fda found no contaminants in the product . 30 however an independent consumer financed examination found dangerous amounts of mycotoxins in beneful posing high risk to dogs that consume it . 31 references edit products . purina . retrieved august 18 2014 . new dog foods focus on health . mmr . january 28 2013 . retrieved august 20 2014 . olson elizabeth october 17 2012 . a rachael ray food truck for the dogs . the new york times . retrieved august 18 2014 . nestle purina petcare company swot analysis . marketline . june 2013 . access date requires url help a b soy protein from beneful . grocery headquarters . july 1 2005 . retrieved august 20 2014 . a b lee thomas october 7 2001 . purina seeks to attract healthful dog owners with beneful strategy . st. louis post dispatch . ball deborah march 18 2006 . nothing says i love you fido like food with gourmet flair . the wall street journal . retrieved august 18 2014 . iovine julie v. june 3 2001 . petropolis ; humans learn a new trick sharing dinner with fido . the new york times . retrieved may 21 2015 . koerner brendan i. november 30 2003 . that pudgy pooch is an industry s best friend . the new york times . retrieved may 21 2015 . reyes sonia ; baar aaron august 27 2001 . purina plots poaching protective pooch pals . brandweek . retrieved august 20 2014 . baar aaron ; mcmains andrew august 27 2001 . ralston shops line up for one . adweek . retrieved august 20 2014 . a b c dogged research yields new pet food . st. joseph news press . may 7 2006 . retrieved august 20 2014 . nestle purina petcare plans 36 million expansion in st. joe . st. joseph news press . july 20 2006 . retrieved september 1 2014 . turcsik richard january 1 2010 . loyal friend a steady stream of product introductions and a shift to higher margin healthier and a shift to higher margin healthier and nutritious offerings are helping the pet aisle remain strong . grocery headquarters . retrieved september 1 2014 . a b o carroll eoin october 3 2011 . nestl launches tv ad aimed at dogs . will it work . the christian science monitor . retrieved august 18 2014 . thomasson emma october 1 2011 . nestle ads will go directly to the dogs ; tv commercials designed to be heard by canine ears . reuters . lucas louise september 30 2011 . nestl whistles up adverts to drive dogs wild . financial times . retrieved august 18 2014 . lacy lisa may 7 2012 . beneful lets people play with digital dogs . clickz . retrieved may 21 2015 . dunlap david w. september 16 2012 . new territory for ads with a moving target . the new york times . retrieved may 21 2015 . donohue pete may 14 2012 . columbus circle subway ad s a dog gone joy for riders . new york daily news . retrieved may 21 2015 . berkus joins team for fantasy dog parks . the associated press . july 31 2013 . retrieved august 20 2014 . prescott wins 500 000 beneful dog park award . the daily courier . december 18 2013 . retrieved september 1 2014 . buchahan park dog park to get 500 000 makeover . lancaster online . april 30 2013 . retrieved september 1 2014 . beneful brand dog food . nestle . retrieved may 21 2015 . woh jessica august 29 2005 . fluffy and fido mimic owners dining habits healthier diets extend animals lives . the associated press . butschli jim february 9 2007 . nestl beneful receives pack expo selects award . packworld . retrieved may 21 2015 . lord debbie m. february 25 2015 . beneful dog food maker sued for illness death of thousands of dogs ; purina says food is safe . alabama media group . retrieved may 21 2015 . ellis ralph february 25 2015 . lawsuit says purina food harms dogs ; company denies allegations . cnn . retrieved may 21 2015 . scheidegger julie april 1 2013 . beneful blasted in blogosphere . dvm360 magazine . retrieved august 20 2014 . target 11 investigates claims that beneful is killing dogs . wsbtv . february 28 2013 . retrieved august 18 2014 . http truthaboutpetfood.com the pet food test results retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title beneful & oldid 724098973 categories dog food brandsnestl brandshidden categories pages using citations with accessdate and no urlpages using infobox company with unsupported parameters navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 7 june 2016 at 03 54 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; 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