Nature's Variety

Nature's Variety No Grain Puppy Mini: Norwegian Salmon review

Name: Nature's Variety No Grain Puppy Mini: Norwegian Salmon
Brand: Nature's Variety

64.2/100Good

DryPuppy

A salmon and tuna kibble packed for small-breed puppies, finishing in our Good band. Carbohydrate is the standout, an estimated 32.5% of dry matter where the typical puppy kibble sits at 39.0%. Both fish are named, and the salmon goes in fresh.

Where to buy: coming soon

Live retailer links are coming soon. Once we have them from UK retailers, where to buy and the best price will appear here.

Our view

Likely to suit

Small-breed puppies, the one size this bag is written for
Young dogs raised on fish, with salmon and dried tuna protein supplying most of the animal protein
A home with no cereal in the bowl
Little dogs that never sit still, on an estimated 382 kcal per 100g against 376 for the typical puppy kibble

Worth watching

Poultry fat and hydrolysed poultry, pork and fish proteins, so this is no single-protein diet
No calcium in the printed analysis, the growth figure worth having at any adult size

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

How this scores

How we score

64.2/100Good

Protein and processingGood

Nutritional balanceExcellent

TransparencyOutstanding

ValueGood

The details

Dog fit

Listed for small-breed puppies only. Ask the maker for the calcium figure, and check your pup's ribs every week or so as the ration climbs and settles.

Food type

Dry

Life stage

Puppy

Breed size

Small

Main protein

Salmon

The score, in context

Norwegian Salmon 64.2

All one Good. Typical dry food: Good.

Named fish at the top and a light starch load carry it to the right side of its band; the plant proteins and the missing moisture and calcium lines hold it there.

What's in it

Deboned Norwegian salmon20%Goes in fresh, so cooking takes most of its water.
Dried tuna protein18%Already dry when weighed, so it carries more of the finished protein than its place suggests.
Dried peas, dried potato15%, 8%The binding, where grain would be.
Potato proteinA concentrated plant protein, less digestible than fish.
Poultry fat7%A group of birds, no single one named.
Sweet potato4%
Hydrolysed animal proteins (poultry, pork, fish)4%Three species in one entry. Flag it on an elimination trial.
Pea protein, beet pulp, pea starch, mineralsBeet pulp is the fibre.
Dried carrot, dried apple0.5%, 0.3%Equivalent to 4% and 2% fresh.
Dried kelp, dried rosemary0.01% eachIodine from the kelp; rosemary as the natural antioxidant.

Vitamins A, E and C, with iron, iodine, copper, manganese and zinc as sulphates or iodide and selenium as sodium selenite.

No calcium figure on the label. Ask the maker before you settle on it for a growing pup.

Named ingredients

Deboned Norwegian salmon* (20%), dried tuna protein (18%), dried peas* (15%), dried potato* (8%), potato protein, poultry fat* (7%), sweet potato* (4%), hydrolysed animal proteins (poultry, pork, fish) (4%), pea protein*, beet pulp*, pea starch*, minerals, dried carrot* (0.5% equivalent to 4% of fresh carrot), dried apple* (0.3% equivalent to 2% fresh apple), dried seaweed (kelp)* (0.01%), dried rosemary* (0.01%). *Natural ingredients

Against the range

One small-breed puppy recipe, the same salmon and tuna formula as its bigger stablemate. Named fish open the list, peas and potato replace grain, and poultry fat with mixed hydrolysed proteins bring land animals in lower down.

Nutritional analysis

Declared analysis

Energy

382 kcal/100g

Estimated using Modified Atwater factors*

Protein

33%

Fat

19%

Fibre

Ash

Dry weight

Protein

35.9%

Fat

20.7%

Fibre

3.3%

Ash

7.6%

Carbs

32.5%

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

42%

Carbs

49.1%

Veg

1.1%

Oils

Other

0.8%

Pricing & size