Akela 80:20 Suffolk Duck review

An Excellent band result places this duck recipe a clear cut above the typical adult dry food, which occupies our Good band. Transparency reads Outstanding, with nutritional balance and value both Excellent and protein and processing Good, and the margin comes from the discipline of the ingredients list rather than any one flashy number.

Ingredients, as declared: 80% Duck (Freshly Prepared Duck 55%, Dehydrated Duck 20%, Duck Fat 3.5%, Duck Stock 1.5%), Sweet Potato 11%, Tapioca 6%, Linseed 0.7%, Chickpeas 0.6%, Lucerne 0.6%, Minerals 0.4%, Joint Support (Glucosamine 1604.5 mg/kg, MSM 1604.5 mg/kg, Chondroitin Sulphate 1608 mg/kg), Algae Oil, Chicory, Dried Apple, Dried Camomile, Dried Carrot, Cinnamon, Dried Cranberry, Aniseed & Fenugreek, Dried Marigold, Dried Mulberry, Dried Parsley, Dried Pear, Spirulina, Stinging Nettle, Tomato Pomace, Yucca Extract, Mixed Herbs(Oregano, Sage, Thyme, Parsley and Marjoram), Dried Orange, Dried Cowberry, Dried Peppermint, Dried Rosehips, Dried Bilberry.

The 80% duck breaks down as 55% freshly prepared, 20% dehydrated, 3.5% duck fat and 1.5% duck stock. That dried share is the quiet hero, holding the protein at 37.0% of dry matter once the fresh meat's water has gone. The carbohydrate estimate sits at 25.5% of dry matter, well shy of the 46.2% the typical adult kibble carries.

Single-animal claims usually fail in the small print, at an unnamed fat or a stray fish oil. Here they do not: the fat is duck, the stock is duck, and the omega top-up is algae oil, so the recipe is honestly fish free as well as single species.

Sweet potato at 11% and tapioca at 6% bind the biscuit, with linseed at 0.7% adding plant omega 3. Even the herb mix names its members, oregano, sage, thyme, parsley and marjoram, where many labels would just say herbs.

Joint support is printed at the top of Akela's usual range, with glucosamine and MSM at 1604.5 mg/kg apiece and chondroitin sulphate at 1608 mg/kg. The chelated trace minerals are dosed in print as well: zinc and iron at 48 mg, manganese at 34 mg, copper at 2 mg and iodine at 0.96 mg per kilo.

Ash at 15.2% of dry matter and calcium at 2.5% reflect a recipe leaning on whole dried duck, bone included. For a healthy adult that is unremarkable; it is only during large-breed growth, or with a urinary history, that the figures deserve a closer look.

£6.15 a kilo at our most recent check, and the bag sizes run 1.5kg, 5kg, 10kg, 13kg, 15kg and 30kg.

About 231 grams a day feeds a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition, roughly £1.42, taken from the maintenance formula of 110 × bodyweight^0.75, near 840 kcal a day.