General Mills Plans to Double Blue Buffalo Pet Food Distribution

General Mills is hoping pet food will help it fight lagging cereal and snack sales. The company said that it plans to double distribution of Blue Buffalo pet food items in the food, drug and mass market channel, including grocery, drug stores and big box retailers. It also plans to make more of its products available in more stores. The efforts will lead to double digit growth in Blue Buffalo sales for the year, the company said.

Blue Buffalo's sales fell by about 7 percent the three months ending in November compared to the same period last year. General Mills said that Blue Buffalo sales surged by 25 percent in the fall of last year after products were sold in mass retailers for the first time. Blue Buffalo was an independent company previously.