Primal Spirit

Primal Spirit Iberian Complete Dry: Sardine review

Name: Primal Spirit Iberian Complete Dry: Sardine
Brand: Primal Spirit

74.4/100Excellent

Cold pressedAdult

Flavour

About the shortest ingredients list you will read this year, and pork leads every recipe on it, either alone at 70% or paired with salmon or sardine. The pellets are cold pressed. The Iberian Pork and the Salmon land in our Outstanding band, with the Sardine a step behind in Excellent.

Where to buy: coming soon

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Our view

Likely to suit

Owners who want to recognise every word on the list
Dogs settled on pork
A dog being steered away from chicken and beef. Neither appears in the range
Fast eaters, since pressed pellets break down in liquid and never swell in the stomach
Mixed households, from toy breeds up to giant

Worth watching

Rice in all three keeps them off a strictly grain-free plan
No vitamin and mineral panel published
Both fish recipes keep fresh pork on the label

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

How this scores

How we score

74.4/100Excellent

Protein and processingExcellent

Nutritional balanceGood

TransparencyOutstanding

ValueExcellent

The details

Dog fit

Listed for adult dogs of every size. The energy figures are our estimates, so weigh the first fortnight and adjust by body condition.

Food type

Cold pressed

Life stage

Adult

Breed size

Toy, Small, Medium, Large, Giant

Main protein

Pork

The score, in context

Iberian Pork 80.8
Salmon 80.5
Sardine 74.4

Three recipes across Outstanding and Excellent. Typical dry food: Good.

The Sardine sits only a band below the other two, so let flavour make the choice.

What's in it

Fresh pork40%
Fresh sardine30%A small oily fish with a strong flavour.
Rice (white)Named outright, and the only starch. Carbohydrate stays near a third of dry matter.
Milled beetFibre for stool quality.
Brewer's yeastDense in B vitamins and a full protein in itself, doing real work with no declared premix.
Turmeric

No vitamin and mineral panel or calcium figure is published, so the micronutrients rest on the five named ingredients.

Named ingredients

40% Fresh Pork, 30 % Fresh Sardine, Rice (White), Milled Beet, Brewer's Yeast, Turmeric

Against the range

Meat: Pork 40%, sardine 30%; Salmon in its place in one; pork alone in the other
Energy: An estimated 336 kcal per 100g; Highest of the three, against 334 and 335
Protein, dry matter: 34.6%; Between the other two

The pick for a dog that needs persuading to eat.

Every recipe stops at five ingredients: fresh meat, white rice, milled beet, brewer's yeast and turmeric. Pork leads all three, alone at 70% in the Iberian Pork and at 40% beside 30% salmon or sardine in the other two. No chicken or beef appears anywhere, and no vitamin and mineral panel is published.

The pellets are cold pressed at low heat, never extruded, and crumble in liquid. The analyses barely move: protein runs 34.4% to 34.8% of dry matter, fat 20.1% to 20.5%, carbohydrate 32.6% to 32.9%.

Nutritional analysis

Declared analysis

Energy

335.6 kcal/100g

Estimated using Modified Atwater factors*

Protein

28.4%

Fat

16.8%

Fibre

Ash

8.1%

Moisture

18%

Dry weight

Protein

34.6%

Fat

20.5%

Fibre

2.4%

Ash

9.9%

Carbs

32.6%

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

70%

Carbs

17.9%

Other

12.1%

Pricing & size