Form S-I Table of Contents LETTER FROM OUR FOUNDER Love them like family. Feed them like family. Now you conjoin our family too. Dear Prospective Investors and New Family Members, We've come a long way from our humble beginnings in the back of a barn, but have never forgotten our roots and why we started Blue Buffalo in the first place. We see this initial public offering, or IPO, as an opportunity to welcome new members to our growing family, so just like we tell our story to each new team member who joins the Buff, we think it's only fitting for you to learn about our history and what we stand for. The word "family" is at the center of just about everything related to Blue Buffalo. In fact, the simple act of treating pets, pet parents and employees like family has enabled our BLUE brand to become the #1 natural pet food and the #1 specialty channel brand in only ten years. Looking back, it's clear that the concept of treating pets like family was the driving force behind the establishment of Blue Buffalo. We (the Bishop family) always considered our dog Blue to be a family member, so when he had a bout with cancer, we got a lot more involved in his diet and took a hard look at pet food ingredients. As concerned pet parents, my wife Jackie and I were disturbed to learn that many well-known brands contained things like chicken by- product meal. corn gluten meal and artificial flavors and colors. Not exactly ingredients that we wanted to feed our boy Blue. And since we were pretty certain that many other pet parents would share our feelings, we decided to develop a pet food that would provide a diet of high-quality. natural ingredients. We also decided to take the risk that we could build a business that people would actually care about by educating pet parents on what we believe is a major disconnect between the ingredients they are expecting to be in the dog and cat food they are buying and the ones that arc actually in the bag. So working with