Business Segment Data

12 Months Ended

Sep. 28, 2013

Segment Reporting [Abstract]

Business Segment Data

19. Business Segment Data

The Company’s chief operating decision maker is its Chief Executive Officer. Operating segments are managed separately because each segment represents a strategic business that offers different products or services. The Company’s chief operating decision maker evaluates performance based on profit or loss from operations. The Company’s Corporate division is included in the following presentation since certain expenses of this division are not allocated separately to the two operating segments. Segment assets exclude cash equivalents, short-term investments and deferred taxes.

Management has determined that the Company has two operating segments which are also reportable segments based on the level at which the chief operating decision maker reviews the results of operations to make decisions regarding performance assessment and resource allocation. These operating segments are the Pet segment and the Garden segment. Substantially all of the Company’s assets and operations relate to its business in the United States.

The Pet segment consists of Four Paws Products, TFH Publications, Kaytee, Aquatics, Interpet, Pets International, Breeder’s Choice and Life Sciences. These businesses are engaged in the manufacturing, purchase, sale and delivery of internally and externally produced pet supplies, books and food principally to independent pet distributors, national and regional retail chains, grocery stores, mass merchants and bookstores. The Garden segment consists of Pennington Seed, Matthews Four Seasons, Grant’s, AMBRANDS, Lilly Miller, the Pottery Group, Gulfstream and GKI/Bethlehem Lighting. Products manufactured, designed and sourced, or distributed are products found typically in the lawn and garden sections of mass merchandisers, warehouse-type clubs, home improvement centers and nurseries and include grass seed, bird feed, clay pottery, outdoor wooden planters and trellises, herbicides and insecticides. These products are sold directly to national and regional retail chains, independent garden distributors, grocery stores, nurseries and garden supply retailers.

The Corporate division includes expenses associated with corporate functions and projects, certain employee benefits, interest income, interest expense and intersegment eliminations.

The following table indicates each class of similar products which represented more than 10% of the Company’s consolidated net sales in the fiscal years presented (in millions).

Category	2013		2012		2011
Pet supplies (excluding wild bird feed)	$	807.4	$	847.1	$	773.1
Garden controls and fertilizer products		274.9		281.7		260.0
Wild bird feed		210.8		205.1		197.5
Other garden supplies		183.5		185.7		212.1
Grass seed		177.0		180.4		185.9
Total	$	1,653.6	$	1,700.0	$	1,628.6

The Company’s largest customer represented approximately 16%, 17% and 16% of the total company net sales in fiscal 2013, 2012 and 2011, respectively, and represented approximately 30% of the Garden segment’s net sales in fiscal 2013 and fiscal 2012, and 28% in fiscal 2011. Sales to the Company’s second largest customer represented approximately 18% of our Garden segment’s net sales in fiscal 2013, 16% in fiscal 2012 and 15% in fiscal 2011. Sales to the Company’s third largest customer represented approximately 8%, 9% and 12% of total company net sales in fiscal 2013, 2012 and 2011, respectively, and represented approximately 17% of our Garden segment’s net sales in fiscal 2013, 20% in fiscal 2012 and 24% in fiscal 2011. The Pet segment’s largest customer represented approximately 11% of our Pet segment’s net sales in fiscal 2013 and 12% in both fiscal 2012 and fiscal 2011.

Financial information relating to the Company’s business segments for each of the three most recent fiscal years is presented in the table below (in thousands):

	Fiscal Year Ended
	September 28, 2013			September 29, 2012			September 24, 2011
Net sales:
Pet segment	$	888,228		$	930,753		$	851,307
Garden segment		765,405			769,260			777,345
Total	$	1,653,633		$	1,700,013		$	1,628,652
Income (loss) from operations:
Pet segment	$	95,451		$	87,650		$	77,623
Garden segment		8,286	(1)		40,376			50,013
Corporate		(63,582	)		(53,605	)		(42,461	)
Total		40,155			74,421			85,175
Interest expense		(43,112	)		(40,315	)		(38,044	)
Interest income		142			145			296
Other income (expense)		(677	)		678			550
Income (loss) before income taxes and noncontrolling interest		(3,492	)		34,929			47,977
Income tax expense (benefit)		(2,592	)		12,816			19,595
Net income (loss) including noncontrolling interest		(900	)		22,113			28,382
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interest		1,029			940			59
Net income (loss) attributable to Central Garden & Pet Company	$	(1,929	)	$	21,173		$	28,323
Assets:
Pet segment	$	425,988		$	411,059		$	396,637
Garden segment		388,581			341,716			350,234
Corporate and eliminations		346,591			396,772			346,132
Total	$	1,161,160		$	1,149,547		$	1,093,003
Depreciation and amortization:
Pet segment	$	15,753		$	14,507		$	14,479
Garden segment		6,410			6,213			5,986
Corporate		10,805			9,705			8,101
Total	$	32,968		$	30,425		$	28,566
Expenditures for long-lived assets:
Pet segment	$	9,694		$	15,540		$	9,953
Garden segment		7,496			4,138			5,902
Corporate		7,982			19,914			15,708
Total	$	25,172		$	39,592		$	31,563

Noncontrolling interest is associated with the Garden segment.

(1) Includes goodwill impairment of $7.7 million and an $11.2 million charge related to certain new products introduced in fiscal 2013.