Essential Foods

Essential Foods Essential Contour review

Name: Essential Foods Essential Contour
Brand: Essential Foods

76.7/100Excellent

DryAdult

A meat-dense, grain-free kibble that names its animals and where they came from, and it reaches our Excellent band. A third of the bag is declared as dried chicken and duck, a serious inclusion by any standard. Taurine is dosed in print.

Where to buy: coming soon

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Our view

Likely to suit

Active adult dogs
Owners who care about sourcing: British chicken and duck, Scottish salmon and trout, all named
Dogs that suit a cereal-free bowl
Ageing joints, with glucosamine, methylsulfonylmethane and chondroitin on the list
Taurine dosed at 1,500 mg, the right move in a grain-free recipe

Worth watching

Chicken, duck, salmon, trout and egg on one list, so no use for an exclusion diet
The joint trio is named without a dose
A long botanical tail, all at garnish level

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

How this scores

How we score

76.7/100Excellent

Protein and processingGood

Nutritional balanceExcellent

TransparencyOutstanding

ValueExcellent

The details

Dog fit

Listed for adult dogs of every size. The maker's chart asks 155 grams a day for a 15kg adult, so weigh it rather than scoop.

Food type

Dry

Life stage

Adult

Breed size

Toy, Small, Medium, Large, Giant

Main protein

Chicken

The score, in context

Essential Contour 76.7

All one Excellent. Typical dry food: Good.

Nothing exotic does the work: there is simply a lot of animal in the bag.

What's in it

Fresh free-range British chicken, free-run British country duck35%Mostly water until the oven drives it off.
Dried chicken and duck33%The important entry. It arrives already concentrated.
Sweet potato, potato, peasThe binding. No grain on the list.
Fresh Scottish salmon and trout5%Marine omega 3 in the form a dog uses directly.
Whole egg3%A protein few ingredients can better.
Linseed, lucerne sproutPlant omega 3 from the linseed.
Chicken liver gravy2%The palatant. Very hard for a dog to walk past.
Pea fibre, MOS, FOS
Glucosamine, MSM, chondroitinNo dose, and in the part of the list where inclusions are small.
Cranberry, acai, mulberry and more, down to green tea and gingerThe label's flourish. None of it unwelcome.

Taurine at 1,500 mg for heart muscle, and trace minerals as amino acid chelates, each dosed: zinc and iron at 50 mg, manganese at 35 mg.

Named ingredients

Fresh free-range British chicken and free-run welfare assured British country duck (35%), dried chicken and duck (33%), sweet potato, potato, peas, fresh Scottish salmon and trout (5%), whole egg (3%), linseed, lucerne sprout, chicken liver gravy (2%), pea fibre, vitamins, minerals, MOS (mannan oligosaccarides), FOS (fructooligosaccharides), glucosamine, MSM (methylsulfonylmethane), chondroitin, cranberry, acai, bilberry, mulberry, apple, tomato, orange, pear, carrot, spinach, cauliflower, seaweed, marigold, ginseng, decaffeinated green tea, ginger.

Against the range

Chicken and duck, fresh at 35% and dried at 33%, make up most of the recipe, with salmon, trout and egg behind. No grain appears. Protein and estimated carbohydrate both convert to 36.1% of dry matter.

Nutritional analysis

Declared analysis

Energy

342.5 kcal/100g

Protein

33%

Fat

13%

Fibre

4.5%

Ash

Moisture

8.5%

Dry weight

Protein

36.1%

Fat

14.2%

Fibre

4.9%

Ash

8.7%

Carbs

36.1%

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

78%

Carbs

19.1%

Other

2.9%

Pricing & size