ZuPreem, a brand of Compana, manufactures and sells animal feeds, particularly for

zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden'' refers to zoo ...

animals and

exotic pet An exotic pet is a pet which is relatively rare or unusual to keep, or is generally thought of as a wild species rather than as a domesticated pet. The definition varies by culture, location, and over time—as animals become firmly enough est ...

s. It is based in

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to ...

History

The idea for ZuPreem started when Mark Morris, Sr. DVM, founder of

Hill's Pet Nutrition Hill's Pet Nutrition, Inc., marketed simply as "Hill's", is an American pet food company that produces dog and cat foods. The company is a subsidiary of Colgate-Palmolive. History Hill's Pet Nutrition was founded in the spring of 1907 by Bu ...

, Inc., and his son Mark L. Morris Jr. DVM, PhD developed a range of specialized

diets The Low Countries comprise the coastal Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta region in Western Europe, whose definition usually includes the modern countries of Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands. Both Belgium and the Netherlands derived their ...

for cats and dogs with particular health concerns, marketed as Prescription Diets and Science Diets. A phone call to Mark Morris Jr. from a local zoo director Gary Clarke in 1964 lead him to begin researching the nutritional needs, and developing foods, for many different

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

animal Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the Kingdom (biology), biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals Heterotroph, consume organic material, Cellular respiration#Aerobic respiration, breathe oxygen, are Motilit ...

s, including

primate Primates are a diverse order (biology), order of mammals. They are divided into the Strepsirrhini, strepsirrhines, which include the lemurs, galagos, and lorisids, and the Haplorhini, haplorhines, which include the Tarsiiformes, tarsiers and ...

bear Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae. They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the N ...

s, reptiles,

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

s, and exotic

feline Feline may refer to: Zoology * Loosely, Felidae, a member of the cat family, which includes the subfamilies Pantherinae and Felinae (conventionally designated a felid) ** Following the taxonomic convention, Felinae, the subfamily of Felidae that ...

s. David R. Morris, the son of Mark Morris Jr., ran the company from 1993 to 2021 expanding the line of foods with an emphasis on companion exotic animals. By 2007 the company determined that it had the largest market share of extruded/pelleted nutritional complete foods for companion birds in the United States and was sold in numerous countries around the world. In April 2021 the company was sold to

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

-based Compana, which is managed by the investment firm

The Carlyle Group The Carlyle Group is a multinational private equity, alternative asset management and financial services corporation based in the United States with $376 billion of assets under management. It specializes in private equity, real assets, and ...

External links

References

Animal food manufacturers Food and drink companies established in 1964 Pet food brands 2021 mergers and acquisitions Companies based in Kansas {{food-product-stub