Ci Foods Ci In the Pink: Salmon & Potato (Small Bite) review

Both versions of In the Pink read Good on our scale, and for context the typical adult dry food finishes level with them. The recipe wins its place through clarity: a big printed salmon share, a fully declared split and nothing hiding behind vague terms, with transparency reading Outstanding on both bags.

Ingredients, as declared: Salmon 44% (Including Freshly Prepared Salmon 23%, Dried Salmon 13%, Salmon Oil 6% & Salmon Gravy 2%), Potato (24%), Oats, Maize (13%), Beet Pulp (4%), Minerals, Vitamins

Salmon is declared at 41% in the standard version and 44% in the Small Bite, with the workings shown in both cases: 23% freshly prepared salmon, 13% dried salmon, then salmon oil and gravy. The dried share matters, because it delivers its protein in concentrated form while the fresh share mostly brings flavour and water.

Potato at 24% carries most of the starch with oats and maize at 13% in support. Estimated carbohydrate converts to 53.7% of dry matter in the standard version, a little above the 46.2% typical of adult dry food. Energy sits at 357 kcal/100g, which happens to be exactly the typical figure for the category.

What is not on the label is the story here: no unnamed meat, no derivative catch-alls and no botanical parade. A list this short leaves nowhere for a vague ingredient to hide, which is precisely its appeal for a dog on a restricted diet.

Salmon oil earns the range its name, supplying the marine omega 3s that skin and coat condition lean on. The Small Bite version doubles it to 6%, making it the slightly richer of the two.

Salmon nudges up to 44% because the salmon oil doubles to 6%, lifting fat to 11%, or 12.0% on a dry matter basis. The kibble is cut small for small breeds and the recipe is otherwise the same short list.

The standard version comes out at £3.50 a kilo and the Small Bite at £3.67, each sold as a 2kg trial bag, a 12kg sack and bundles of four 2kg bags.

Either way, a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition needs about 235 grams a day, between £0.82 and £0.86 depending on version, using the standard estimate of roughly 840 kcal a day (110 × bodyweight^0.75).