Darf Dog Food Review & Ratings

Darf is a cold-pressed specialist, and it is worth understanding what that means before reading its scores. Cold-pressed food is compressed at low temperature rather than extruded at high heat, which is gentler on the ingredients and produces a denser pellet that breaks down differently in the gut.

Across 9 rated foods Darf averages 85/100 (Very good), running 81 to 88 - a spread of 7 points, and a rank of 52 of 290. Its best, Darf Complete Adult Dry Small Breed, scores 88/100.

The scores are high for a straightforward reason: cold-pressed recipes tend to be short and meat-led, because the process does not need the starch content that holds extruded kibble together. Less filler by necessity is still less filler.

Cost is reasonable for what it is - the cheapest works out around £0.52 a day, which undercuts most raw and fresh options while scoring comparably on the label.

One practical note: cold-pressed food is denser than kibble, so the portion looks smaller than owners expect. Weigh it rather than eyeballing it, or you will overfeed by habit.