Years

Years Cupboard Fresh Retail: Chicken Thigh Mediterranean Casserole review

Name: Years Cupboard Fresh Retail: Chicken Thigh Mediterranean Casserole
Brand: Years

84.3/100Outstanding

FreshAdult

Flavour

The shelf edition of Years' gently cooked trays, narrowed to a chicken casserole, a pork stew and a steak and kidney hot pot. Every ingredient on all three labels carries a percentage, and each recipe keeps to one species from muscle through to organ. All three sit in our Outstanding band.

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

Buying fresh food off a shop shelf
Dogs held to a single named animal
Fussy eaters. Gently cooked meat keeps its own smell and texture
Modest starch, from buckwheat and quinoa in place of cereal
Adults of every size, toy to giant

Worth watching

Organ meat in every recipe, so move a dog new to offal across gradually
Fat at about a third of dry matter; weigh portions for a dog watching its waistline
An open tray goes in the fridge and needs using inside the label's window

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

How this scores

How we score

84.3/100Outstanding

Protein and processingOutstanding

Nutritional balanceOutstanding

TransparencyOutstanding

ValueOutstanding

The details

Dog fit

Listed for adult dogs of every size. The label's table puts a 15kg dog on 330 to 420 grams a day; plan fridge space for the first week.

Food type

Fresh

Life stage

Adult

Breed size

Toy, Small, Medium, Large, Giant

Main protein

Chicken

The score, in context

Steak 85.1
Chicken Thigh Mediterranean Casserole 84.3
Pork Shoulder Sage 84.2

All three Outstanding. Typical fresh food: Outstanding.

Barely anything separates the three, so what your dog has done well on before decides it.

What's in it

Fresh chicken leg (thigh and drumstick)15%
Fresh chicken gizzards, heart, liver15% eachOne species from muscle through to organ.
Fresh sweet potato11%
Fresh red pepper9.5%Where the Mediterranean name comes from, with courgette and oregano.
Fresh pre-soaked buckwheat7.2%Does a cereal's job without being one.
Spinach, courgette, apple2.8% down to 1%
Rosemary-infused sunflower oil, organic hempseed oil2.17% and 0.2%Cold-pressed; the rosemary keeps the oils from going stale.
Deactivated nutritional yeast1%B vitamins and a savoury note dogs tend to enjoy.
Pre-soaked quinoa0.8%One of the very few plants carrying every amino acid a dog needs.
Oregano, algae, alfalfa, nettle, chicory root, kelp, chamomile, dandelion0.05% down to 0.01%Chicory root's inulin feeds the gut bacteria; kelp brings iodine.

A 1% premix printed per kilo as fed, calcium included at 4874mg, with taurine added at 0.25%.

Chicken causes more intolerance than any other meat simply because it is fed so widely. Not the tray to start a poultry sensitive dog on.

Named ingredients

Fresh Chicken Leg (15%) [Fresh Chicken thigh 60%, Fresh Chicken drumstick 40%], Fresh Chicken Gizzards (15%), Fresh Chicken Heart (15%), Fresh Chicken Liver (15%), Fresh Sweet Potato (11%), Fresh Red Pepper (9.5%), Fresh Pre-soaked Buckwheat (7.2%), Fresh Spinach Leaf (2.8%), Cold-Pressed Rosemary-infused Sunflower Oil (2.17%), Fresh Courgette (2%), Deactivated Nutritional Yeast (1%), Fresh Apple (1%), Vitamins & Minerals (1%), Fresh Pre-soaked Quinoa (0.8%), Taurine (0.25%), Cold-Pressed Organic Hempseed Oil (0.2%), Sun Dried Oregano (0.05%), Algae Powder (0.05%), Alfalfa powder (0.05%), Nettle Powder (0.04%), Chicory Root Powder (0.04%), Kelp Powder (0.03%), Chamomile Powder (0.02%), Dandelion Powder (0.01%).

Against the range

Energy: 140 kcal per 100g; 160 on the pork, 177 on the steak.
Carbohydrate, dry matter: 16.3%; 19.5% and 19.3% on the other two.
Protein, dry matter: 42.7%; 37.3% on the pork, 39.9% on the steak.

The gentlest of the three on energy, and the lowest in starch on the shelf.

Nothing is pooled on these labels. Each breaks its animal into cuts with a figure against every one, and each totals 60% animal from a single species. Pre-soaked buckwheat and quinoa carry the starch with sweet potato and parsnip behind, and carbohydrate stays between 16.3% and 19.5% of dry matter.

Moisture runs from 65.9% to 70.0%, what gentle cooking leaves in the tray. Fat converts to between 31.0% and 32.6% of dry matter on all three, a rich bowl. What varies is the animal, the vegetables and the energy.

Nutritional analysis

Declared analysis

Energy

140 kcal/100g

Protein

12.8%

Fat

9.3%

Fibre

0.5%

Ash

2.5%

Moisture

70%

Dry weight

Protein

42.7%

Fat

31%

Fibre

1.7%

Ash

8.3%

Carbs

16.3%

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

72.8%

Carbs

13.2%

Veg

4.2%

Oils

1.6%

Other

8.2%

Pricing & size

Price per kilo: £9.48 (RRP)
Pack: 280 g, 630 g, 770 g, 875 g, 980 g, 1155 g trays (single tray, or 1-4 of each); also sold as a "pack of 4", and to retail stockists as 8 × 320 g and 8 × 630 g
A 15kg dog eats: 330 to 420 g a day, 375 in the middle
Cost per day, 15kg dog: £3.56

Fresh food carries a lot of water, so a 15kg dog eats around 375 grams a day.

Middle of the market for a gently cooked fresh food, and strong value for what is in the tray.

Ingredients and nutrition are taken from manufacturer data. Retailer pricing is not yet live for this food.