FreshPet vs. The Farmer’s Dog: How Two Fresh Dog Food Brands Compare

You’ve decided that after getting a dog, you want to prioritize his nutrition. Or, you’ve had dogs for years but it’s time to make a change in their diet. Store-bought kibble just isn’t getting it done for one reason or another, so now you have to take the next step and research fresh dog food brands.

FreshPet and The Farmer’s Dog are two fresh dog food options that have just as many similarities as they have differences. But how do they compare?

Dog Food Subscription Services vs. Store Bought Fresh Food

Before we delve into how FreshPet and The Farmer’s Dog compare, let’s take a look at dog food subscription services compared with store bought fresh food. The Farmer’s Dog is a pet food subscription service while FreshPet is a store-bought fresh food dog company.

Dog Food Subscription Services

• Convenience: Dog food subscription services offer regular, scheduled deliveries directly to your door.
• Personalization: Dog food subscription services offer personalized meal plans based on your dog’s breed, age, size, and health needs. This allows for easy adjustments to deliveries, portion sizes, and even ingredients sizes.
• Quality and Freshness: Dog food subscription services use high quality, human grade ingredients that do not contain fillers, preservatives or additives.
• Health Benefits: Many dog food subscription services are formulated to meet AAFCO standards and use veterinary nutritionists to review recipes and ingredients. Benefits include better digestion, shinicer coats and healthier skin.
• Sustainability: Many meal plan servicess are delivered using recyclable and sustainable materials.

Store Bought Fresh Food

• Accessibility: Store bought fresh food can be purchased at pet stores, supermarkets, and even online. you don’t have to schedule or subscribe, which makes it easier to buy.
• Variety: Store bought fresh food offers many options with different flavors and formulas. It’s easier to switch brands or try different types of food without a long-term commitment.
• Cost: Store bought fresh food is usually less expensive than dog food subscription services. However, high-end dog food brands are usually as expensive if not more than food subscription services.
• Control Over Ingredients: You can shop around and find dog food with ingredients that suits your pet. Stores like Pet Food Express have many high-end brands with quality ingredients.

How Important Is Human-Grade Food for My Dog?

Before we discuss how important human-grade food is for dogs, you should understand what that term means. In essence, it means that the ingredients sourced for the food are approved for human consumption. That means whole muscle and organ meat from beef, chicken, turkey and fish — non-human-grade food uses meat by-products and chicken meals.

It doesn’t mean that humans should eat human-grade dog food. Dogs have specific dietary and nutritional needs, so their food isn’t intended for human consumption.

1. Quality of Ingredients

First and foremost, the quality of ingredients with human grade food is top-notch — equal to that which goes into human food. They’re more balanced and complete, giving you more “bang for your buck” in terms of nutrition absorption, meaning smaller, firmer poops. Human-grade food also contains no fillers and no byproducts, as well as no artificial additives and preservatives.

2. Regulation and Transparency

Human-grade food is subject to a higher level of regulation and is produced in facilities that are required to have regular inspections by food safety authorities. Transparency is another benefit of food that is certified as human-grade; lower grade foods can get around disclosing the exact origin of their ingredients.

3. Health Benefits

While human-grade dog food can lead to some health benefits, it’s not a miracle cure-all or some type of magic elixir that will keep your dog disease free. It does however have some proven benefits, like improved digestion, a healthier coat and skin, muted “dog smell” and “dog breath” and as mentioned above, better #2s.

Because subscription services send you the exact amount your dog needs to eat, it’s easier to avoid overfeeding, which leads to excess weight. Dogs that weigh too much are more likely to have joint issues, heart issues, renal issues and many other common ailments. Of course, it’s up to you to stick to the feeding schedule and avoid too many table scraps — we know, that can be tough when she gives you “those eyes” at the dinner table.

4. Ethical Considerations

Many companies that produce human-grade dog food, like The Farmer’s Dog, are committed to ethical sourcing practices. They source their ingredients from suppliers that treat animals humanely and with dignity and have sustainable business practices. Additionally, many fresh dog food companies use environmentally-friendly packaging.

5. Taste and Palatability

It may seem obvious, but because human-grade food uses fresh, high quality ingredients, it’s more flavorful and palatable for your dog. This is monumental for picky eaters!

Background on The Farmer’s Dog

The Farmer’s Dog was launched in 2014 with co-founders Brett Podolsky and Jonathan Regev. They were driven to improving the quality of dog food — the catalyst was Brett’s dog, Jada, who had been experiencing digestive issues.

With the help of veterinarians, he formulated a home-cooked, human-grade food that quickly helped Jada’s digestion. He decided that this fresh, delicious food should be shared with all dog owners, leading to the founding of The Farmer’s Dog with Jonathan.

• The Farmer’s Dog is based on pet nutrition research that has been compiled over decades.
• They work with the best pet nutritionists and veterinarians on an ongoing basis.
• The Farmer’s Dog is human-grade food that’s nutritionally balanced.
• More than 100,000,000 meals have been delivered by The Farmer’s Dog.

The Farmer’s Dog Pros and Cons

The Farmer’s Dog, like any dog food company, has some pros and cons. Luckily, there are a lot more pros than cons. Let’s take a look at them right now.

Pros

• High-Quality Ingredients: The Farmer’s Dog uses human-grade ingredients in their recipes. It’s free from additives, by-products and preservatives.
• Personalized Meal Plans: Each meal plan is tailored to fit your dog’s age, breed, size, and specific dietary needs. It sends you pre-portioned meals to ensure proper serving sizes.
• Fantastic Health Benefits: The benefits of eating fresh, human-grade food include fresher breath, a healthier, reduced skin issues and smaller, cleaner poops.
• Convenience: The Farmer’s Dog delivers to your house on regular schedules that are part of your meal plan. Your dog’s meals are also easy to store in the refrigerator or freezer.
• Sustainable: The Farmer’s Dog uses recyclable and eco-friendly materials for packaging.

Cons

• Cost: The Farmer’s Dog is more expensive than traditional dog food brands because of its high-quality and fresh ingredients they use.
• Storage Requirements: All meals require refrigeration, which can be inconvenient if you have limited fridge or freezer space.
• Perishable Food: All food from The Farmer’s Dog is fresh, which means timely delivery is required, as well as proper storage so the food doesn’t spoil.

Background on FreshPet

The company was founded in 2006 by Scott Morris, Cathal Walsh and John Phelps, with a goal of making fresh dog food. They wanted to partner up with vet nutritionists and the best pet health experts in the country to come up with fresh food that could be available throughout the country.

What FreshPet wanted to do was:

• Partner up with vet nutritionists to come up with healthy formulas for dogs and cats.
• Make fresh, human-grade pet food.
• Source all ingredients locally.
• Make a goal of being sustainable and eco-friendly.

Within the FreshPet brand, there are also various products that could pique your interest including dog and cat treats, home cooked dog meals, and even delivery subscription services.

The subscription service is new and still not available in all states. Furthermore, FreshPet does more than just create fresh dog food. They also provide ongoing financial support to 160 pet shelters around the country.

FreshPet Pros and Cons

FreshPet creates fresh, human-grade dog food. You can find various meal packages and food logs in pet stores and supermarkets. Likewise, they have also started a subscription service that is slowly expanding around the country. FreshPet, like any dog food company, has pros and cons. Let’s take a look at them right now.

Pros

• High-Quality Ingredients: FreshPet uses fresh, high quality ingredients in their meals. They also contain no additives or preservatives. Furthermore, their meals are complete and balanced.
• Freshness: Like their name, FreshPet maintains its freshness while refrigerated and you can serve the food ready from the fridge with no need of thawing.
• Digestible and Palatable: Many dogs experience better digestion with FreshPet. They also provide more tasty and palatable meals than other dog food brands.
• Convenience: Their meals are ready-to-serve and contain various proteins you can choose from.
• Positive Health Impact: Many dogs experience positive health impacts including more energy, shinier coats and healthier skin.

Cons

• Cost: FreshPet is generally more expensive than the traditional store-bought kibble or canned food.
• Storage Requirements: All meals from FreshPet require refrigeration, which means that if you don’t have fridge space available, it may be inconvenient to store.
• Shorter Shelf Life: FreshPet meals are also available for consumption for a shorter period unlike traditional store bought kibble.
• Availability: It may not always be available in stores because of stock shortages; if you’re looking for a specific flavor, you may have to go to various supermarkets to find it.
• Potential for Spoilage: If you don’t properly store FreshPet meals, there’s a risk of spoilage which means that it can be contaminated and harm your dog.

FreshPet vs. The Farmer’s Dog: In Conclusion

And there you have it, that’s how FreshPet and The Farmer’s Dog compare. Both dog food companies offer nutritious and fresh dog food for their customers. One is a subscription service and the other, you can buy at the pet stores or supermarkets.

Which brand is better for you and your dog depends on a few factors. These factors include your proximity to supermarkets and your budget. If you live in a rural area far from major supermarkets or an urban area that doesn’t have many big grocery stores, getting healthy meals delivered may be a better option despite the price.

FreshPet can be difficult to find in some locations and is subject to supply-chain issues — meaning you may have to substitute something else occasionally, and we all know how that can affect a dog’s tummy.

When your dog is being transported, healthy food and plenty of water is extremely important. The dog-loving transporters on CitizenShipper have experience with feeding and storing fresh food while on the road. If you need to transport a dog, look no further than our #1-rated dog transportation marketplace.

Disclaimer: CitizenShipper is a partner of The Farmer’s Dog and may earn commissions by referring customers.

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