F.M. Brown’s
Pet bird, small animal and wild bird food milled and packed at family-owned plants in Berks County, Pennsylvania — six generations on from a grist mill bought in 1871.
🇺🇸 American Manufacturing
Our assessment
Company details
Where F.M. Brown’s products are made
“All of our production facilities are located in Berks County, PA and include our flour mill in Fleetwood, our farm animal feed mill in Birdsboro, our multiple facilities in Sinking Spring, PA which produce companion pet and wild bird products, pigeon food and turf seeds, and our 550 acre farm where we grow corn, wheat, soybeans and hay.” The Sinking Spring plant at 1443 James Street is SQF certified.
“For many years, Brown’s has produced hundreds of unique private label companion pet and wild bird products.” A company that manufactures other companies’ products has real capacity rather than a badge — and it is the opposite of the arrangement most pet brands have.
This is why the label here is American Manufacturing rather than Made in USA. “With ingredients from the United States, and around the globe, we produce the healthiest, cleanest and most nutritional pet foods on the market,” Brown’s writes, and elsewhere describes sourcing “exotic fruits, nuts, spices, herbs and wholesome veggies … from around the world.” One line is the exception: American Blend wild bird food is “grown, harvested and packaged in the USA.”
American Manufacturing is the honest label for a company that mills, blends and packages in its own American plants while buying some of what goes into the bag abroad. Brown’s documents the first thoroughly and discloses the second without being asked, and this profile keeps them separate.
The story
The mill came first. A grist mill was built in 1843 near Douglassville, Pennsylvania, and George Brown bought it in 1871 to produce livestock feed and flour. That building is now known as Brown’s Mill and is on the National Register of Historic Places. F.M. Brown’s Sons, Inc. was incorporated in 1948.
Wild bird food arrived in the 1960s, when Harvey Brown moved the business beyond livestock feed and built it on a five-stage seed cleaning process the company still credits for the shift. The pet and wild bird division grew from there into Tropical Carnival, Encore, Bird Lover’s Blend and Garden Chic!
It is now a sixth-generation company. Marianne Brown became president of the pet and wild bird division in 2003 — the first woman in an executive position at the corporation, by the company’s own account — and Austin Brown Egolf, Brittany Brown and Lisa Brown are the sixth generation now in the business.
Why they matter
The pet food aisle is dominated by brands that own nothing. The label belongs to a holding company, the recipe belongs to a consultant, and the plant belongs to a co-packer three states away who also makes four competing brands.
Brown’s owns the mills. It also owns a 550-acre farm growing corn, wheat, soybeans and hay, which is about as far upstream as a pet food company gets. And it makes other companies’ products, which is the strongest available evidence that the capacity is real.
The company is also straightforwardly honest about where that integration stops. Exotic fruit does not grow in Berks County, and Brown’s says so rather than letting the plant list imply otherwise. That disclosure is what makes the rest of the story checkable.
Shop F.M. Brown’s products
Tropical Carnival, Encore, Bird Lover’s Blend and Garden Chic! — pet bird, small animal and wild bird food milled, blended and packaged in Berks County, Pennsylvania.
Shop all F.M. Brown’s products →Visit F.M. Brown’s website →
F.M. Brown’s questions
Is F.M. Brown’s food made in the USA?
It is manufactured in the USA, at plants the company owns and names: “All of our production facilities are located in Berks County, PA,” including a flour mill in Fleetwood, a feed mill in Birdsboro and multiple Sinking Spring facilities. Ingredients are a separate question — see below.
Are the ingredients American?
Not all of them, and Brown’s says so: “With ingredients from the United States, and around the globe, we produce the healthiest, cleanest and most nutritional pet foods on the market.” The exception is the American Blend wild bird line, described as “grown, harvested and packaged in the USA.”
Where is F.M. Brown’s based?
437 Mountain Home Road, Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania 19608, in Berks County. The SQF-certified production plant is at 1443 James Street in the same town.
How old is the company?
George Brown bought the grist mill in 1871, and F.M. Brown’s Sons, Inc. was incorporated in 1948. The original mill dates to 1843 and is on the National Register of Historic Places, but 1843 is the building’s date rather than the company’s.