Farmers Union Industries Performance Pet Products Opens New Facility in Mitchell

Farmers Union Enterprises’ Performance Pet Products recently opened a new facility in Mitchell. Farmers Union Enterprises (FUE) purchased the full-service, premium pet food cannery in 2015.

“We are excited for the expanded capacity this new facility provides,” says Dan Hildebrandt, CEO of Farmers Union Industries (FUI), an organization that manages several agribusinesses owned by Farmers Union Enterprises (FUE), whose profits help fund the operations of five state Farmers Union organizations, including North and South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Montana. FUE also supports National Farmers Union.

More about Performance Pet Products
As a co-packing facility employing 100, Performance Pet Products produces premium pet food for multiple brands from across the country. “We customize formulas for our clients, sourcing high quality, human-grade ingredients for premium canned pet food,” explains Kevin Hubbard, Director of Operations for Performance Pet Products. “Our clients own the formulas, we help them with everything else – sourcing ingredients, product development, marketing, packaging – basically whatever they need we can do. Our slogan says it all. ‘You dream it. We make it.’”

The pet food industry is a $7 billion industry, and Performance Pet Products’ new facility allows for expansion, explains Chief Operation Officer Dale Bednarek. “We expanded from a facility that can produce 6 million cases each year to a facility that can produce 30 million.”

Opening this new facility in the heart of South Dakota farm country is significant, says Doug Sombke, SDFU President and President of FUE. “The businesses FUE owns help fund and support family farmers, ranchers and rural communities. Right now, times are tough in agriculture, so Farmers Union is hard at work advocating for policy change at all levels of government and providing valuable information to our members.”

To learn more about Performance Pet Products, visit https://performancepet.net/.