The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company engages in the manufacture, marketing, and sale of products for lawn, garden care, and indoor and hydroponic gardening. The company's products are sold in North America, Europe and Asia.
Through its U.S. Consumer and Other segments, the company is the leading manufacturer and marketer of branded consumer lawn and garden products in North America. The company’s products are marketed under some of the most recognized brand names in the consumer lawn and garden indus...
The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company engages in the manufacture, marketing, and sale of products for lawn, garden care, and indoor and hydroponic gardening. The company's products are sold in North America, Europe and Asia.
Through its U.S. Consumer and Other segments, the company is the leading manufacturer and marketer of branded consumer lawn and garden products in North America. The company’s products are marketed under some of the most recognized brand names in the consumer lawn and garden industry. The company’s key consumer lawn and garden brands include Scotts Turf Builder lawn fertilizer and Scotts grass seed products; Miracle-Gro soil, plant food and gardening products; Ortho herbicide and pesticide products; and Tomcat rodent control and animal repellent products. The company is the exclusive agent of Monsanto Company, a subsidiary of Bayer AG (Monsanto), for the marketing and distribution of certain of Monsanto’s consumer Roundup1 branded products within the United States (U.S.) and certain other specified countries. In addition, the company has an equity interest in Bonnie Plants, LLC, a joint venture with Alabama Farmers Cooperative, Inc. (AFC), focused on planting, growing, developing, distributing, marketing and selling live plants.
Through its Hawthorne segment, the company is a leading provider of nutrients, lighting and other materials used for indoor and hydroponic gardening in North America. The company’s key brands include General Hydroponics, Gavita, Botanicare, Agrolux, Gro Pro, Mother Earth, Grower’s Edge, HydroLogic Purification System and CYCO.
The Scotts, Turf Builder, Miracle-Gro, Ortho and Roundup brands make the company the most widely recognized company in the consumer lawn and garden industry in the U.S.
Business Segments
The company operates through U.S. Consumer, Hawthorne, and Other segments.
U.S. Consumer consists of the company’s consumer lawn and garden business in the United States.
Hawthorne consists of its indoor and hydroponic gardening business.
Other primarily consists of the company’s consumer lawn and garden business in Canada.
Principal Products and Services
In its reportable segments, the company manufactures, markets and sells lawn and garden products in the following categories:
Lawn Care: The lawn care category is designed to help users grow and enjoy the lawn they want. Products within this category include lawn fertilizer products under the Scotts and Turf Builder brand and sub-brand names; grass seed products under the Scotts, EZ Seed, PatchMaster and Thick’R Lawn brand and sub-brand names; and lawn-related weed, pest and disease control products primarily under the Scotts brand name, including sub-brands, such as GrubEx. The lawn care category also includes spreaders and other durables under the Scotts brand name, including Turf Builder EdgeGuard spreaders and Whirl and Wizz handheld spreaders.
Gardening and Landscape: The gardening and landscape category is designed to help consumers grow and enjoy flower and vegetable gardens and beautify landscaped areas. Products within this category include a complete line of water-soluble plant foods under the Miracle-Gro brand and sub-brands, such as LiquaFeed; continuous-release plant foods under the Miracle-Gro brand and sub-brands, such as Shake ‘N Feed; potting mixes, garden soils, ground cover and mulches under the Miracle-Gro, Scotts, Hyponex and Earthgro brand names; plant-related pest and disease control products under the Ortho brand; organic garden products under the Miracle-Gro Performance Organics, Miracle-Gro Organic, Miracle-Gro Organic Choice, Scotts and Whitney Farms brand names; and live goods and seeding solutions under the Miracle-Gro brand. Hydroponic and indoor gardening focused growing media and nutrients products are marketed under the Mother Earth, Botanicare, General Hydroponics and CYCO brand names.
Hydroponic Hardware and Growing Environments: This category is designed to provide durable goods to grow plants, flowers and vegetables using little or no soil. Products within this category include growing systems, trays, fans, filters, humidifiers, dehumidifiers, water pumps, irrigation supplies and hand tools. These products are marketed under the Botanicare, CAN-FANTM, CAN-FILTERS, EcoPlus, Gro Pro, Grower’s Edge and Hydro-Logic Purification System brand names.
Lighting: The lighting category is designed to provide growers a complete selection of lighting systems and components for use in hydroponic and indoor gardening applications. Products in this category include lighting sensors, controls, fixtures, cords and hangars, and are marketed under the Gavita, Agrolux and Titan brand names.
Controls: The controls category is designed to help consumers protect their homes from pests and maintain external home areas. Insect control products are marketed under the Ortho brand name, including Ortho Max, Home Defense and Bug B Gon sub-brands; rodent control products are marketed under the Tomcat and Ortho brands; selective weed control products are marketed under the Ortho Weed B Gon sub-brand; and non-selective weed killer products are marketed under the Groundclear brand name. Hydroponic gardening focused controls products are marketed under the Alchemist, Grower’s Edge and General Hydroponics brand names.
Marketing Agreement: The company is Monsanto’s exclusive agent for the marketing and distribution of certain of Monsanto’s consumer Roundup branded products in the United States and certain other specified countries.
Effective August 1, 2019, the company entered into the Third Amended and Restated Exclusive Agency and Marketing Agreement (the Third Restated Agreement) pursuant to which it provides certain consumer and trade marketing program services, sales, merchandising, warehousing and other selling and marketing support for certain of Monsanto’s consumer Roundup branded products. The company also performs other services on behalf of Monsanto, including manufacturing conversion services, pursuant to ancillary agreements.
Principal Markets and Methods of Distribution
The company sells its products through its direct sales force, e-commerce website and network of brokers and distributors primarily to home centers, mass merchandisers, warehouse clubs, large hardware chains, independent hardware stores, nurseries, garden centers, e-commerce platforms, food and drug stores, indoor gardening and hydroponic product distributors, retailers and growers.
The majority of the company’s shipments to customers are made via common carriers or through distributors in the U.S. The company primarily utilizes third parties to manage the key distribution centers for its consumer lawn and garden business, which are strategically located across the U.S. and Canada. Growing media products are generally shipped direct-to-store without passing through a distribution center.
Trademarks, Patents, Trade Secrets and Licenses
The company pursues a vigorous trademark protection strategy consisting of registration, renewal and maintenance of key trademarks and proactive monitoring and enforcement activities to protect against infringement. The Scotts, Miracle-Gro, Ortho, Tomcat, Hyponex, Earthgro, General Hydroponics, Gavita, Botanicare, Agrolux and Mother Earth brand names and logos, as well as a number of product trademarks, including Turf Builder, EZ Seed, Organic Choice, Home Defense Max, Nature Scapes, and Weed B Gon Max are registered in the United States and/or internationally and are considered material to the company’s business.
In addition, the company actively develops and maintains an extensive portfolio of utility and design patents covering a variety of subject matters and technologies relevant to the business, such as fertilizer, weed killer, chemical and growing media compositions and processes; grass seed varieties; mechanical dispensing devices, such as applicators, spreaders and sprayers; lighting applications; and hydroponic growing systems. The company’s utility patents provide protection generally extending to 20 years from the date of filing, and some of its patents will continue well into the next decade. The company also holds exclusive and non-exclusive patent licenses and supply arrangements permitting the use and sale of additional patented fertilizers, pesticides, electrical and mechanical devices. Although the company’s portfolio of trade secrets, patents and patent licenses is important to its success, no single trade secret, patent or group of related patents, alone, is considered critical to the operation of any of its business segments or the business as a whole.
Seasonality
The company’s North America consumer lawn and garden business is highly seasonal, with approximately 75% of its annual net sales occurring in its second and third fiscal quarters (year ended September 30, 2024) combined. Th company’s annual net sales for this business are further concentrated in its second and third fiscal quarters by retailers who rely on its ability to deliver products closer to when consumers buy its products. Historically, substantially all orders have been received and shipped within the same fiscal year with minimal carryover of open orders at the end of the fiscal year.
The company’s Hawthorne segment is also impacted by seasonal sales patterns for certain product categories due to the timing of growing patterns in North America during the company’s second and third fiscal quarters, and the timing of certain controlled agricultural lighting project sales during its third and fourth fiscal quarters.
Significant Customers
The Home Depot and Lowe’s are the company’s two largest customers and are the only customers that individually represent more than 10% of reported consolidated net sales during any of the three most recent fiscal years.
Competition
In the lawn and garden, pest control and indoor gardening and hydroponic markets, the company’s products compete against private label, as well as branded products. Primary competitors include Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc.; Central Garden & Pet Company; Kellogg Garden Products; Oldcastle Retail, Inc.; Lebanon Seaboard Corporation; Reckitt Benckiser Group plc; FoxFarm Soil & Fertilizer Company; Nanolux Technology, Inc.; Sun Gro Horticulture, Inc.; Advanced Nutrients, Ltd.; SBM Life Science Corp.; Woodstream Corporation; Sunday Lawn Care; and Hydrofarm Holdings Group, Inc. In Canada, the company faces competition in the lawn and garden market from Premier Tech Ltd. and a variety of local companies, including private label brands.
Research and Development
The company’s research and development expenses included $34.6 million in fiscal 2024, including product registration costs of $9.0 million.
Regulatory Considerations
The company’s grass seed products are regulated in the U.S. by the Federal Seed Act and various state regulations.
History
The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company was founded in 1868.