Crave

Crave Natural Grain Free Adult Dry review

Name: Crave Natural Grain Free Adult Dry
Brand: Crave

70.9/100Excellent

DryAdult

A chicken-led kibble with 36% protein declared and an ingredient rarely printed on a British bag: bone marrow at 5%. Estimated carbohydrate sits at 32.4% of dry matter against a typical 46.2%. It reaches our Excellent band. The grain free in the name is not borne out by the list, which declares barley and a little oats.

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Our view

Likely to suit

Active adults that do well on a meat-heavy bowl
Dogs that want their dinner to taste of something; bone marrow and turkey liver digest both feature
Chicken-happy dogs with no reason to avoid cereal
A lighter starch load than most kibble

Worth watching

Barley at 20% and oats at 0.5%, whatever the name says, and gluten with the barley
Beef and an unnamed poultry meal behind the chicken, so not for a strict elimination trial
Dense at 378 kcal per 100g; keep the scoop honest in a quiet week

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

How this scores

How we score

70.9/100Excellent

Protein and processingGood

Nutritional balanceOutstanding

TransparencyOutstanding

ValueExcellent

The details

Dog fit

Listed for adult dogs of every size. Read the ingredient list before ordering for a dog kept off cereal or gluten; the name on the front will not tell you.

Food type

Dry

Life stage

Adult

Breed size

Toy, Small, Medium, Large, Giant

Main protein

Chicken

The score, in context

Crave Natural Grain Free Adult Dry 70.9

All one Excellent. Typical dry food: Good.

Protein and a low starch load for a cereal recipe carry it clear of the typical dry food; general poultry wording lower down keeps the processing reading on Good.

What's in it

Fresh chicken17.5%Mostly water going in, and the oven takes it away.
Dried chicken proteinA bigger presence in the kibble than its place suggests. With the fresh chicken it makes up the declared 30%.
Barley20%Digests easily and brings fibre, selenium and copper. Carries gluten.
Beef greaves proteinDense dried protein left once fat is rendered off meat. A second animal.
Dried whole peas
Bone marrow5%About as palatable as an ingredient gets, and a natural source of compounds others add as joint supplements.
Dried beet pulpGentle fibre.
Dried poultry meal, turkey liver digestThe meal is the one entry naming no species. Liver digest is a better flavouring than most.
Pea starch, dried alfalfa, minerals
Oats, sunflower oil0.5% (oats)The second cereal, and the added plant oil.

Zinc, manganese, copper, selenium and iodine all dosed in print, as ordinary sulphate salts.

Sold as grain free, but barley and oats are on the list.

Named ingredients

Natural Chicken (30%): Fresh Chicken (17.5%), Dried Chicken Protein, Barley (20%), Beef Greaves Protein, Dried Whole Peas, Bone Marrow (5%), Dried Beet Pulp, Dried Poultry Meal, Turkey Liver Digest, Pea Starch, Dried Alfalfa, Minerals, Oats (0.5%), Sunflower Oil

Against the range

Natural chicken is declared at 30%, fresh chicken at 17.5% of it, with dried chicken protein and beef greaves protein carrying the concentrated protein behind. Barley at 20% does the binding, and bone marrow at 5% is printed with its own figure.

Nutritional analysis

Declared analysis

Energy

378 kcal/100g

Protein

36%

Fat

15%

Fibre

3.5%

Ash

7.7%

Dry weight

Protein

39.1%

Fat

16.3%

Fibre

3.8%

Ash

8.4%

Carbs

32.4%

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

66.2%

Carbs

32.9%

Veg

0.5%

Oils

0.2%

Other

0.3%

Pricing & size