Mater sold Rusty Jones to Beatrice Foods family of companies in 1984 with annual sales of $150 million. He stayed on with Beatrice with a five-year contract as president. Beatrice cannibalized most of the company and cut advertising budgets by more than half. The new owners moved advertising away from NASCAR and allowed the company to lose market share. As the company was failing Beatrice asked Mater if he would buy the company back. He declined due to the damage Beatrice had done to the brand and Beatrice's failure to listen to Mater's protests against the business plan and marketing cuts.