Essential Foods

Essential Foods Essential The Beginning review

Name: Essential Foods Essential The Beginning
Brand: Essential Foods

80.4/100Outstanding

DryPuppy

A rich, low-starch growth kibble for small breed puppies, and it reaches our Outstanding band. Nearly a third of the bag is dried chicken and duck, with fresh poultry, salmon, trout and whole egg on top. Carbohydrate converts to only 26.2% of dry matter, against 39.0% for a typical puppy kibble.

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Our view

Likely to suit

Small breed puppies, the size this recipe is written for
Keeping starch down: 26.2% of dry matter
Busy, fast-growing pups, at 392 kcal per 100g and fat at 23.0% of dry matter
Sourcing on the label: free range British chicken and duck, Scottish salmon and trout
Gut and joint ingredients from the start

Worth watching

Calcium at 1.75% of dry matter, above what large-breed growth plans aim for
Four animals and egg, so no use for an exclusion trial
A rich recipe; a steadier pup needs portions weighed

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

How this scores

How we score

80.4/100Outstanding

Protein and processingExcellent

Nutritional balanceOutstanding

TransparencyOutstanding

ValueOutstanding

The details

Dog fit

Listed for small breed puppies only; the maker runs a separate large-breed recipe. Take the starting amount from the pack's chart and adjust as the pup grows.

Food type

Dry

Life stage

Puppy

Breed size

Small

Main protein

Chicken

The score, in context

Essential The Beginning 80.4

All one Outstanding. Typical dry food: Good.

Consistency puts it here: no one pillar carries the rest, and the starch left over is lighter than almost anything else among puppy kibbles.

What's in it

Fresh free range British chicken and British country duck34%Pooled under one figure, so each bird's share is unknown.
Dried chicken and duck30%The entry that matters most: concentrated meat that does not shrink in the oven.
Sweet potatoLeads a deliberately thin plant side.
Chicken fat9%
Peas
Fresh Scottish salmon and trout7%Marine omega fats that poultry cannot supply.
Whole egg7%No protein a young dog eats is more complete.
Linseed, potato, chicken gravy, lucerne sproutchicken gravy 3%Linseed for plant omega 3 and fibre.
MOS, FOS, glucosamine, MSM, chondroitinGut and joint work, none of it dosed.
Cranberry, acai, bilberry and other fruit, vegetables and botanicalsGarnish.

Taurine at 1,500 mg, vitamin D3 at 2000 IU, and zinc, iron, manganese and copper as amino acid chelates, generally better absorbed than oxides and sulphates.

Calcium is 1.75% of dry matter, workable for small breeds but above large-breed growth plans. Big pups have their own recipe.

Named ingredients

Fresh free-range British chicken and free-run welfare assured British country duck (34%), Dried Chicken and Duck (30%), Sweet Potato, Chicken Fat (9%), Peas, Fresh Scottish salmon and Trout (7%), Whole Egg (7%), Linseed, Potato, Chicken Gravy (3%), Lucerne Sprout, Vitamins, Minerals, MOS (Mannan Oligosaccharides), FOS (Fructo-Oligosaccharides), 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

Nutritional analysis

Declared analysis

Energy

392 kcal/100g

Protein

35%

Fat

21%

Fibre

3.5%

Ash

Moisture

8.5%

Dry weight

Protein

38.3%

Fat

23%

Fibre

3.8%

Ash

8.7%

Carbs

26.2%

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

81%

Carbs

Oils

Other

1.9%

Pricing & size