

Waitrose
Waitrose Complete & Balanced Adult Dry review
A plain everyday kibble that writes its label in categories, not ingredients. Wholegrain cereals lead at 35%, meat and animal derivatives follow at 27%, and chicken meal at 4% is the only named part of that. The analysis is unremarkable in the good sense, and the Average band is about what the pack leaves out.
Our view
Likely to suit
- One straightforward bag from the weekly shop for a healthy adult dog
- Dogs with no history of food reactions, where the exact species matters less
- Dogs better off with less fat, at 10.0% declared
- Larger dogs with steady appetites, as the feeding table runs past 45kg
- Households happy with wholegrain in the bowl, at 35%
Worth watching
- Category names throughout, so the pack cannot say which grain, which animal or which oil
- Chicken meal is only 4% of the animal content, too little for an elimination plan
- Listed for puppies with no calcium figure declared
- A recipe written in categories can change between production runs
Written by our editorial team. Independent guidance, not veterinary advice.
How this scores
How we scoreThe details
Dog fit
Listed for puppies, adults and seniors of every size. Start on the pack's table, which asks 205 to 360 grams a day for a dog between 12kg and 25kg, and adjust by condition.
Dry
Puppy, Adult, Senior
Toy, Small, Medium, Large, Giant
Chicken
The score, in context
- Waitrose Complete & Balanced Adult Dry 32.5
All one Average. Typical dry food: Good.
A verdict on what the label withholds more than on anything in the bowl; the analysis itself gives no cause for concern.
What's in it
- Cereals35% wholegrainsWholegrain brings more fibre and trace minerals than refined grain. Which grain is not said, and it can shift from batch to batch.
- Meat and animal derivatives27%A respectable quantity for an everyday kibble, from a legal category stretching across excellent and very plain material.
- Chicken meal (inside the meat and animal derivatives)4%The only identified part.
- Oils and fatsAnimal fat or plant oil, the pack does not say.
- Derivatives of vegetable origin: beet pulp, yucca extract4% and 0.02%Beet pulp is the fibre.
- Vegetables: pea flour4%Milled roasted peas. A supporting protein.
- Seeds: linseed1%Plant omega 3.
- MineralsGrouped with no doses, so zinc, copper and selenium cannot be read off the pack.
Listed for puppies with no calcium figure, which matters most for a large-breed pup.
No moisture on the pack, so the dry-matter figures assume the usual 8%.
Named ingredients
Against the range
One everyday kibble written in category names: cereals, meat and animal derivatives, oils and fats, derivatives of vegetable origin. The named parts are small ones: chicken meal, beet pulp, pea flour, linseed and yucca extract. Minerals carry no doses.
Nutritional analysis
Declared analysis
25%
10%
4%
9%
Dry weight
27.2%
10.9%
4.3%
9.8%
47.8%
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.
27%
50.4%
5.8%
11.5%
5.2%
Pricing & size
- Price per kilo
- £1.76 (RRP)
- Pack
- 2.5KG
- A 15kg dog eats
- 205 to 360 g a day, 285 in the middle
- Cost per day, 15kg dog
- £0.50
Budget end of the dry market, though the price still runs a little ahead of what the analysis shows.
Ingredients and nutrition are taken from manufacturer data. Retailer pricing is not yet live for this food.
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