Akela 80:20 Cold-Pressed Chicken review

Our Outstanding band is where this food settles, two clear steps above the Good band that holds the typical adult dry recipe. Nutritional balance and transparency both read Outstanding with protein and processing Excellent behind them, and the analysis makes the case on their behalf: dry foods this meat-led are genuinely rare.

Ingredients, as declared: Dehydrated Chicken 80%, Tomato Pomace 6.5%, Dried Algae 3%, Pumpkin Powder 2.5%, Vitamins & Minerals 1.99%, Turmeric 1%, Green Lipped Mussel 1%, Chicory 1%, Cranberry Powder 1%, Spinach 1%, Chamomile Powder 0.5%, Seaweed 0.5%, Black Pepper 0.01%.

Most meat-first kibbles lead with fresh meat and lose the bulk of it as water in the oven. This one starts with meat that is already dry, so the 80% chicken figure survives cooking intact. The analysis reflects that honesty: protein converts to a towering 60.4% of dry matter, and carbohydrate is estimated at just 8.8% against the 46.2% found in the typical adult dry recipe.

Cold pressing shapes the food at lower temperatures than standard extrusion. The result is a denser nugget that tends to soften and break down quickly in the stomach, and some owners find that suits dogs that gulp their meals.

The plant side is brief and functional. Tomato pomace at 6.5%, dried algae at 3% and pumpkin powder at 2.5% lead it, with spinach, cranberry, chicory and chamomile behind them. Every entry carries its own printed percentage, down to the 0.01% of black pepper.

Green lipped mussel at 1% comes from shellfish and has long been used for joint comfort, and turmeric at 1% keeps it company. Neither is a medicine, but both are declared rather than sprinkled, which is the right way round.

Ash lands at 12.1% of dry matter. That is simply what happens when a recipe is built from dried whole meat. The added trace minerals arrive as chelates, each dosed in print: zinc at 50 mg, iron at 30 mg, manganese at 20 mg, copper at 6 mg and selenium at 0.15 mg per kilo.

This recipe is sold in 9kg and 30kg bags. We did not hold a checked price for it at the time of writing, so no per-kilo or per-day cost appears here.

For portioning, a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition needs about 247 grams a day, worked from the standard maintenance estimate of 110 × bodyweight^0.75, roughly 840 kcal for a dog of that size.