Royal Canin is a pet food company that was founded in 1967 and produces dog and cat food tailored to each breed's specific nutritional needs. It first introduced diets for large puppy breeds in 1980 and was the first to recognize different nutritional needs based on dog size in 1997. Royal Canin created the first breed-specific cat food for Persians in 1999. The company was sold to Mars for 1.5 billion euros in 2001 and is now based in the U.S.