Kronch Main review

Our scoring brings this one out in the Average band, a step under the Good band the typical bag of adult dry food reaches. On paper it is an ordinary maintenance kibble. The label gives the reasons, with nothing hidden in the method. Protein converts to 21.7% of dry matter and fat to 10.9%, and both figures are gentle by kibble standards. Carbohydrate is estimated at 57.6% against the 46.2% that is typical, and wheat sits second on the list. Transparency reads Excellent, while protein and processing reads Average and nutritional balance Poor. None of that stops it doing what it was designed for. For an older or steadier dog that does not want a rich bowl, a light analysis is the feature. The full mineral declaration underneath is more than plenty of gentler foods offer.

Ingredients, as declared: Fresh salmon (16%) Barley, wheat, fish meal, lard (food grade), maize, blood meal, beet pulp, brewer's yeast, garlic, vitamins and minerals.

Fresh salmon leads at 16% and fish meal comes a little further down, and the pairing is the recipe's best idea. Water accounts for most of a fresh fish entry and the oven takes it back out. Fish meal arrives dried already, so the meal is what actually delivers protein into the kibble. The finished analysis is modest by design: protein at 21.7% of dry matter, fat at 10.9% and energy at 340 kcal per 100g, a deliberately light combination for a dry food.

Barley heads the plant side with wheat immediately behind it and maize further along. Barley is a decent grain for dogs once cooked, bringing fibre with selenium and copper. Opinion divides over wheat. It bakes well, though of all the cereals it is the one dogs react to most, so keep it in mind if a grain has caused trouble before. Between them the three put carbohydrate at an estimated 57.6% of dry matter against the 46.2% typical of adult dry food.

Lard provides the added fat. Lard is pork fat, worth registering on a bag led by salmon. Blood meal follows as a concentrated protein source with no animal named against it, and beet pulp brings the fermentable fibre that helps keep stools firm, a detail that matters more as a dog ages.

Brewer's yeast and garlic finish the list. Brewer's yeast is a genuinely good natural source of B vitamins and makes a plain kibble more appealing. Garlic sits far enough down the list to count as seasoning, a Nordic convention and not a claim. With garlic the quantity is everything. At this level it is a very different thing from a large dose, though some owners will still want to be told it is there.

The published panels are the most generous part of the label. Calcium, sodium, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, iron, zinc, copper, manganese, iodine, cobalt and selenium are all declared, and the vitamins get a line each. The B12 line is printed in milligrams, though micrograms are the usual measure for it. Read it as a unit slip in the published sheet and not as anything different in the food.

£3.70 a kilo, sold in 5kg and 13.5kg bags.

A 15kg adult dog in moderate condition would get through about 247 grams a day, based on around 840 kcal a day (110 × bodyweight^0.75, the standard maintenance estimate), which is £0.91 a day. The label asks 200 to 305 grams for a dog between 10kg and 20kg, so an older dog taking things easy will sit below the middle of that range.