Primal Spirit Complete Wilderness review

Good is the band this lands in, and the cold-pressed field's middle lands there as well. In a category we already score generously, that is a fair result. The named three-meat lead and the fully figured label are what earn it, with protein and processing and nutritional balance both reading Good and transparency Excellent. Carbohydrate converts to 35.8% of dry matter, a fair way under the 43.2% typical for cold-pressed food. That is a genuine point in its favour in a format that usually leans harder on starch.

Ingredients, as declared: 20.4% fresh pork, 20.4% fresh chicken, 20.4% fresh fish, 20.4% rice, 5% beta vulgaris pulp, 3.5% brewer's yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), 3.2% pumpkin, 3.2% banana, 2.65% pineapple, 0.25% sage (Salvia officinalis), 0.25% ginger (Zingiber officinale), 0.25% turmeric (Curcuma long)

Start with the method, because it shapes everything else on this label. Pressure does the work at a far gentler temperature than conventional kibble is baked at. The pellet then falls apart in liquid and never expands. That is why owners come back to the format, whether the dog eats fast or has a delicate stomach. In every other respect you feed it the way you would feed any bag of dry food.

The animal side arrives as three fresh meats in equal measure, pork, chicken and fish at 20.4% apiece. Those figures come down in the pressing, because fresh meat brings its own water with it. Naming all three and putting a number on each still goes further than most labels bother to. Pork is the interesting one. It is still a rare sight in British dog food, and for plenty of dogs this bowl would be their first taste of it. The fish is left as fresh fish, with no species named. On that one entry the list stops short of its own standard.

Rice matches each meat at 20.4% and does the starch work. Of the everyday cereals it is one of the gentlest on a dog's digestion, and the label names it outright with no cereals heading to hide behind. Beet pulp follows at 5%. The label gives it as beta vulgaris pulp, its botanical name and the same thing spelled the long way, and it is a moderately fermentable fibre that firms up a stool.

Brewer's yeast at 3.5% is doing more than flavour. Few natural ingredients carry the B vitamins as densely, and it brings a full set of amino acids along with them. In a recipe with no printed premix behind it, that counts for more than usual. Pumpkin at 3.2%, banana at 3.2% and pineapple at 2.65% make up the fruit and vegetable share, and the closing sage, ginger and turmeric at 0.25% each read as character rather than a working dose.

On the analysis, protein converts to 31.2% of dry matter and fat to 18.8%, an everyday build for an adult dog in ordinary work rather than a performance one. Energy is declared at 344 kcal per 100g, close to the 351 that is usual for the format. What the label does not carry is a vitamin and mineral panel or a calcium declaration, so the micronutrition here is taken on the strength of the whole ingredients named on the list.

£3.70 a kilo. Bags come in 1kg and 12kg, with a double 12kg order listed as well.

Work a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition at about 840 kcal a day, which is the standard maintenance estimate of 110 × bodyweight^0.75. Against this food's declared energy that is roughly 244 grams a day, putting the day rate at £0.90.