Purina offers personalized dog food

ST. LOUIS -- Nestle Purina PetCare is offering a service allowing dog owners to customize food for their pets.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports the new Just Right by Purina service allows customers to formulate dog food based on characteristics of their dog -- age, breed and activity level. St. Louis-based Purina is a unit of Switzerland-based Nestle.

Purina makes the Beneful, Alpo and Dog Chow brands. It says it is the first major maker to produce a personalized dog food in the U.S.

Purina began sales in March as a testing phase. The product launched nationwide Oct. 28.

"So far people have responded well to it," said Brian Lester, director of marketing for Just Right by Purina.

"As you look at the many other categories that consumers are in, there are more and more customized features that are being offered every day."

Customers log in at JustRightPetFood.com and enter information that begins with the dog's name. Users are asked protein preference with options that include chicken, salmon and lamb.

Pet owners are asked if their dog has dry skin, whether its coat is shiny, and whether the dog is over- or underweight. In fact, a photo of the dog can be put on the personalized bag if the owner chooses.

It doesn't come cheap -- the price is higher than Purina's standard dog food. A 6-pound bag is $24.99; a 12-pound bag is $37.99.

Lester said Purina is deciding whether to make a similar offering for cats.

Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, http://www.stltoday.com