Darf Complete Adult Dry for Active Dogs review

Our Outstanding band is where this one finishes, two bands clear of the Good band that the middle of the cold-pressed field occupies. Protein and processing, transparency and value all read Outstanding, with nutritional balance Good, which is not a common sight. The reasons are easy to point at: one named animal takes 70% of the recipe, the organ and fat shares are written out separately, and the energy figure matches the claim on the front.

Ingredients, as declared: 70% beef (49% beef meat, 14% beef organs, 7% beef fat), 10% raw dried carrot, 10% raw apple, 6% millet, 2% krill, 1% salmon oil

Cold pressing keeps this format closer to its raw ingredients than an extruded kibble gets. The mix is pressed under low heat, not cooked and expanded. That gives a dense pellet which breaks apart in liquid, and Darf builds its whole range that way. The practical upside is a food that stores in the cupboard while reading like something assembled from a butcher's counter.

Beef does all the animal work and the label refuses to be vague about it. Beef meat at 49% is the muscle share, beef organs at 14% bring the vitamin dense parts that dogs would eat first in the wild, and beef fat at 7% is the energy. Naming the fat by species is a small thing that matters, because an unnamed animal fat is the entry most owners of sensitive dogs end up chasing.

The plant side is short. Raw dried carrot and raw apple sit at 10% each, adding fibre and a little natural sweetness, and millet at 6% is the only grain, a gluten free one that most dogs handle easily. Beef on its own cannot give the marine omega fats, and that is what the 2% krill and the 1% salmon oil are there for. It is sensible recipe building, though it does mean the bowl is not free of fish.

The analysis backs up the front of the bag. Protein converts to 30.6% of dry matter and fat to 15.3%, both well clear of what an everyday adult recipe carries. At 462 kcal per 100g this is a genuinely concentrated food, not a rebadged ordinary one. Carbohydrate estimates at 46.2% of dry matter, above the 43.2% typical for cold-pressed, though the meat share here is high enough that the estimate is doing some sweeping up.

Calcium converts to 1.33% of dry matter, which is a comfortable adult figure and comes largely from what the beef brings with it. The micronutrients are declared as a vitamin and mineral supplement at 0.5% of the recipe, with no individual doses printed. That part of the label is taken on trust.

£5.64 a kilo, in 4kg and 14kg bags.

A 15kg adult dog in moderate condition needs about 840 kcal a day on the standard maintenance estimate (110 × bodyweight^0.75), which comes to roughly 182 grams of this food, or £1.03 a day. A dog actually earning the name on the bag will eat more than that.