Country Kibble Grain Free Adult: Salmon, Trout, Sweet Potato & Asparagus review

Four varieties, one band. All four settle into our Good band, level with the typical adult dry food, the turkey highest and the salmon and trout lowest, with little between them. The reason repeats across the range: half of every bag is a named animal, printed down to the fresh, dried and stock shares, and the starch that follows it stays in proportion. The gaps between varieties come from small things, a little more pea protein in one, a leaner fat figure in another. No change of plan lies behind them.

Ingredients, as declared: Salmon & Trout 50% (including Freshly Prepared Salmon & Trout 36%, Dried Salmon 12% & Salmon Stock 2%), Sweet Potato (24%), Peas (9%), Potato, Beet Pulp, Linseed, Omega 3 Supplement, Minerals, Asparagus (0.3%), Fructooligosaccharides (FOS, 96 mg/ kg), Mannanoligosaccharides (MOS, 24 mg/kg)

The meat headline is built the same way each time. To reach its 50% the pork bag prints 31% freshly prepared pork, then 18% dried pork, then 1% pork stock, and every other label follows that pattern. Freshly prepared meat is mostly water, and the oven removes nearly all of it. The dried share is the part that carries protein into the kibble, and every label here shows you both halves. Protein lands at 26% as fed on all four.

Sweet potato does the binding everywhere, ranging from 22% to 26% depending on the recipe, with peas at 9% and potato behind them. Whole peas bring fibre and minerals plus a little plant protein, and beet pulp adds the gentle fibre that keeps digestion regular. There is no cereal at any point in the range.

Linseed appears on every list as the plant omega 3 source, supported by an entry simply called omega 3 supplement. That term does not say what it came from, and marine oil is the usual answer, so the honest reading is that none of these recipes can be called fish free with certainty. It is a small blemish on labels that are otherwise unusually forthcoming.

Pea protein turns up in the lamb, just behind the potato on that label. This is a refined plant protein, and meat protein is a good deal more useful to a dog, so it nudges the analysis upward without putting anything extra in the bowl. It sits low enough down the list to be a detail rather than a problem.

Every bag prints a dose for the prebiotic pair, fructo oligosaccharide at 96 mg/kg and mannan oligosaccharide at 24 mg/kg. Both are food for the bacteria down in the large intestine, and it is a good sign to see them measured.

Each variety signs off with its own botanical flourish, mint in the lamb, apple in the pork, asparagus in the salmon and trout, cranberry in the turkey. These are seasoning, and the range does not need them to stand up. The meat share is where the weight sits, which is exactly where it should be.

Salmon and trout together at 50%, made from 36% freshly prepared salmon and trout, 12% dried salmon and 2% salmon stock, over sweet potato at 24% with peas at 9%. Asparagus at 0.3% is the signature. This is the leanest recipe on the shelf, fat at 8% or 8.7% of dry matter, with energy at 354 kcal per 100g and carbohydrate estimated at 47%. The starch takes up some of the room the fat leaves. Its mineral panel is its own, dosed higher than the rest of the range.

Every variety comes in a 15kg bag. Per kilo, the salmon and trout is £3.87, the pork and turkey £3.93 each, and the lamb £4.47.

Measured against a maintenance target of roughly 840 kcal a day (110 × bodyweight^0.75), a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition eats between 228 and 237 grams a day depending on the variety. That works out at £0.90 to £1.04 a day.