SPRINGDALE, Ark. – Noel White, Tyson’s president and CEO, said during a Q4 earnings call with analysts that prepared foods innovation will continue to be an area of emphasis in the coming year. “We’re excited about the performance of our prepared foods business as innovation continues to deliver sales growth,” White said. “We have a very strong pipeline of prepared foods planned for 2019, and the segment is expected to surpass operating margins of 11% again in fiscal 2019.”

Tyson’s True Chews, Top Chews and Nudges dog treat brands are part of the company’s prepared foods segment, which reached a record $235 million in operating income in the fourth quarter of 2018, bringing the full year 2018 operating income for that segment to $979 million.

True Chews Meal Makers Dog Treats are one of dozens of product launches planned by Tyson in 2019. The company describes the product as “meal toppers to add flavor and variety to everyday dog food,” and plans to offer it in four medley flavors: beef, peas and carrots, beef and sweet potato, chicken, bacon and egg, and chicken, oat and apple. Tyson also plans to innovate its Nudges dog treats brand by adding Simply Sliced Dog Treats to the product mix.

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