Belcando

Belcando Adult Grain-Free review

Name: Belcando Adult Grain-Free
Brand: Belcando

58.1/100Good

DryAdult

Belcando's grain-free adult range is one construction in four coats, and it sits in our Good band. The horse is the headline: a protein very few dogs will ever have met. Amaranth does the binding in place of grain, and krill turns up in every flavour.

Find it on Amazon

Affiliate link. As an Amazon Associate, Off the Leash earns from qualifying purchases.

Our view

Likely to suit

Dogs kept off grain. Amaranth, potato starch and pea flour do the binding
Dogs that have exhausted the common meats; horse is about as novel as mainstream dry food gets
An all-fish bowl, from the Ocean flavour
Rotation households, with four flavours on one build

Worth watching

Krill in all four and salmon oil or fish meal in most, so none is fish free
The Poultry flavour never names its bird
Carbohydrate estimated above half of dry matter

Written by our editorial team. Independent guidance, not veterinary advice.

How this scores

How we score

58.1/100Good

Protein and processingGood

Nutritional balancePoor

TransparencyGood

ValueGood

The details

Dog fit

Listed for adults. If allergies brought you here, match the flavour to the job: Horse keeps its land meat to one species, Ocean stays in the sea.

Food type

Dry

Life stage

Adult

Main protein

Poultry

The score, in context

Belcando Adult Grain-Free 58.1

All one Good. Typical dry food: Good.

Honest 40% meat declarations and a grain-free build that names its parts carry it, and the estimated carbohydrate load stops it stretching further.

What's in it

Fresh animal: horse (meat, heart, liver, lungs), poultry, beef or salmon40%The oven takes most of the water out, so the dried backup matters.
Dried protein: horse, low-ash poultry, beef, or fish meal12% to 17%Ocean's fish meal is the largest.
Amaranth5% to 20%A pseudocereal with its own protein and no gluten.
Potato starch, pea flourComplete the base.
Ground marine zooplankton (krill)2.5%, 5% in OceanOmega 3 in every flavour.
Grape seed expellerIn three of the four. The pressed seed residue, not the flesh that makes grapes a worry.
Brewer's yeast, carob bean, sugar beet pulp, pea protein
Salmon oil, poultry fat, safflower or thistle oilSalmon oil in the horse, beef and ocean.
Chia seeds, dicalcium phosphate, saltsChia for plant omegas.
Dried herbs0.2%Printed with a candid total.

One panel across all four flavours, with taurine at 500 mg and zinc at 125 mg per kilo.

Calcium is 1.89% of dry matter, at the firmer end but within adult norms.

Named ingredients

Horse: Fresh horse meat, heart, liver, lungs (40%); Pea flour; Potato starch; Dried horse protein (12%); Amaranth (5%); Bean flour (Vicia faba); Dried sugar beet pulp; Marine zooplankton (Krill, 2.5%); Dried brewer's yeast; Broken carob bean; Pea protein; Salmon oil; Hydrolysed yeast; Chia seeds; Safflower oil (1%); Potassium chloride; Sodium chloride; Dried herbs (total: 0.2%; Nettle leaves, Gentian root, Centaury, Chamomile, Fennel, Caraway, Mistletoe, Yarrow, Blackberry leaves), Poultry: Fresh poultry meat (40%); Amaranth (20%); Low-ash poultry protein, dried (15%); Potato starch; Pea flour; Ground marine zooplankton (Krill, 2.5%); Grape seed expeller; Dried brewer's yeast; Dried carob bean; Poultry fat; Dicalcium phosphate; Fish meal from ocean fish (1%); Chia seeds; Hydrolysed poultry liver; Dried sugar beet pulp; Sodium chloride; Potassium chloride; Dried herbs (total: 0.2%; Nettle leaf, Gentian root, Centaury, Chamomile, Fennel, Caraway, Mistletoe, Yarrow, Bramble leaves); Yucca schidigera, Beef: Fresh beef (40%); Amaranth (18%); Potato starch; Dried beef protein (12.5%); Pea flour; Fish meal from ocean fish (2.5%); Ground marine zooplankton (Krill, 2.5%); Dried brewer's yeast; Dried carob bean; Grape seed expeller; Dicalcium phosphate; Dried sugar beet pulp; Salmon oil; Thistle oil; Hydrolyzed yeast; Chia seeds; Sodium chloride; Potassium chloride; Dried herbs (total: 0.2%; Nettle leaf, Gentian root, Centaury, Chamomile, Fennel, Caraway, Mistletoe, Yarrow, Bramble leaves); Yucca schidigera, Ocean: Fresh salmon (40%); Fish meal from ocean fish (17%); Amaranth (16%); Potato starch; Pea flour; Ground marine zooplankton (Krill, 5%); Salmon oil; Grape seed expeller; Dried brewer's yeast; Dried carob bean; Hydrolyzed salmon; Chia seeds; Dicalcium phosphate; Dried herbs (total: 0.2%; Nettle leaf, Gentian root, Centaury, Chamomile, Fennel, Caraway, Mistletoe, Yarrow, Bramble leaves)

Against the range

One recipe idea in four flavours, Horse, Poultry, Beef and Ocean, each opening with 40% of its fresh animal and backed by a dried protein. Amaranth stands in for cereal, from 5% in the horse to 20% in the poultry, with potato starch and pea flour. Krill is in every bowl, and all four share one additive panel.

Nutritional analysis

Declared analysis

Energy

327.5 kcal/100g

Estimated using Modified Atwater factors*

Protein

21%

Fat

10%

Fibre

Ash

7.7%

Moisture

10%

Dry weight

Protein

23.3%

Fat

11.1%

Fibre

3.3%

Ash

8.6%

Carbs

53.7%

As-fed composition

Estimated breakdown of the finished product by ingredient category, from the declared ingredient list and ingoing weights. These are estimates, not measurements.

Meat

22.9%

Oils

77.1%

Pricing & size

Price per kilo: £5.03 (RRP)
Pack: 4 kg, 12.5 kg, in each of four flavours - the selector reads "**(8 variants)**": Horse, Poultry, Beef and Ocean, each in 4 kg and 12.5 kg.
A 15kg dog eats (our estimate): 230 to 280 g a day, 255 in the middle
Cost per day, 15kg dog: £1.28

The calorie figure behind the daily amount is our estimate, so the waistline is the final referee.

You pay a premium relative to what the analysis shows.

Ingredients and nutrition are taken from manufacturer data. Retailer pricing is not yet live for this food.