Essential Foods

Essential Foods Essential Estate Living review

Name: Essential Foods Essential Estate Living
Brand: Essential Foods

74.8/100Excellent

DryAdult

A red-meat kibble with no fish anywhere on the list, which is rarer than it sounds when salmon oil turns up almost everywhere. Lamb and venison lead, and the dried lamb straight behind them is what keeps the meat case honest. It sits in our Excellent band.

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Our view

Likely to suit

Dogs that eat better when the bowl smells of red meat
Owners keeping fish out of the bowl entirely
Dogs that have met most common proteins. Venison is one they almost certainly have not
One bag across a house of different sizes, toy to giant
Older dogs feeling their joints, with glucosamine, MSM and chondroitin named

Worth watching

Dried free-range chicken at 6%, despite the lamb and venison billing
One combined figure for lamb and venison, so the venison share goes unstated
The joint trio carries no printed amounts, so a measured dose may need a supplement alongside

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

How this scores

How we score

74.8/100Excellent

Protein and processingGood

Nutritional balanceGood

TransparencyOutstanding

ValueExcellent

The details

Dog fit

Listed for adults of every size. Calcium works out at 1.97% of dry matter, a generous load for maintenance, so this is an adult bag and not one for a growing pup.

Food type

Dry

Life stage

Adult

Breed size

Toy, Small, Medium, Large, Giant

Main protein

Lamb

The score, in context

Essential Estate Living 74.8

All one Excellent. Typical dry food: Good.

Two named red meats at the head of the list do most of the work, and no single pillar is carrying the rest.

What's in it

Fresh grass-fed British lamb and free-roaming venison40%One shared figure. The oven drives off most of the water in it.
Sweet potato
Dried lamb20%Goes in concentrated, and keeps the meat case honest.
PeasSome fibre and a little plant protein.
Whole eggs, dried free-range chicken6% eachThe chicken is the poultry in a red-meat recipe.
Potato, linseed
Lamb fat2%Named to its animal.
Lucerne sprout, liver stockLiver stock is the one entry that does not name its animal.
Vitamins, minerals, MOS, FOS, glucosamine, MSM, chondroitinPrebiotics and a joint trio, the trio without amounts.
Fruits, vegetables and botanicalsCranberry to ginger, in trace amounts.

Taurine at 1,500 mg, chelated zinc, iron and manganese, iodine, selenium and vitamins A, D3 and E, preserved with rosemary extract.

Calcium at 1.97% of dry matter is a generous mineral load for adult maintenance.

Named ingredients

Fresh grass-fed British lamb and free-roaming venison (40%), sweet potato, dried lamb (20%), peas, whole eggs (6%), dried free-range chicken (6%), potato, linseed, lamb fat (2%), lucerne sprout, liver stock, 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

One grain-free recipe: fresh lamb and venison at 40%, dried lamb at 20% third on the list, whole eggs and a little dried chicken, with sweet potato, peas and potato binding it. There is no fish or fish oil anywhere on the label.

Nutritional analysis

Declared analysis

Energy

358 kcal/100g

Protein

30%

Fat

15%

Fibre

Ash

8.5%

Moisture

8.5%

Dry weight

Protein

32.8%

Fat

16.4%

Fibre

4.4%

Ash

9.3%

Carbs

37.1%

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

73.2%

Carbs

21.4%

Oils

Other

3.4%

Pricing & size