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Dog food brand

Essential Foods Dog Food Review & Ratings

Essential Foods is a Danish brand making dry and wet dog food, most of it grain-free.

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28foods in the range28 rated so far
80/100average ODF ScoreVery good
#115of 290 ranked brandsby average score, 2+ rated foods
59 - 88score range
59avg 8088

Every Essential Foods food

FoodODF ScoreTypeLife stage£ / day
Essential Eternal Living
  • NaturalNo artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.
59AverageDryAdult£1.08 approx.
Essential Balance
  • NaturalNo artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.
  • Sensitive stomachFormulated to be gentle on digestion.
66GoodDryAdult£0.84 approx.
Essential Balance Working
  • NaturalNo artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.
  • Sensitive stomachFormulated to be gentle on digestion.
70GoodDryAdult£0.71 approx.
Essential Kingdom Living Pate
  • NaturalNo artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.
  • Grain-freeMade without any grains.
73GoodWetAdult£4.60 approx.
Essential Estate Living Pate
  • NaturalNo artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.
  • Grain-freeMade without any grains.
75GoodWetAdult£4.87 approx.
Essential Highland Living Pate
  • NaturalNo artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.
  • Grain-freeMade without any grains.
75GoodWetAdult£4.51 approx.
Essential Contour Pate
  • NaturalNo artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.
  • Grain-freeMade without any grains.
76GoodWetAdult£4.56 approx.
Essential Older Pate
  • NaturalNo artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.
  • Grain-freeMade without any grains.
76GoodWetAdult & senior£4.56 approx.
Essential Superior Living Pate
  • NaturalNo artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.
  • Grain-freeMade without any grains.
76GoodWetAdult£4.56 approx.
Essential The Beginning Pate
  • NaturalNo artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.
  • Grain-freeMade without any grains.
77GoodWetPuppy£4.56 approx.
Essential Nautical Living Pate
  • High meat35% named meat (30% or more counts as high).
  • NaturalNo artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.
  • Grain-freeMade without any grains.
78GoodWetAdult£4.47 approx.
Essential The Beginning Large Breed
  • High meat30% named meat (30% or more counts as high).
  • NaturalNo artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.
  • Grain-freeMade without any grains.
  • Sensitive stomachFormulated to be gentle on digestion.
81Very goodDryPuppy£1.11 approx.
Essential The Beginning Large Breed Working
  • High meat30% named meat (30% or more counts as high).
  • NaturalNo artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.
  • Grain-freeMade without any grains.
  • Sensitive stomachFormulated to be gentle on digestion.
81Very goodDryPuppy£0.92 approx.
Essential Contour
  • High meat35% named meat (30% or more counts as high).
  • NaturalNo artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.
  • Grain-freeMade without any grains.
82Very goodDryAdult£1.17 approx.
Essential Older
  • High meat34% named meat (30% or more counts as high).
  • NaturalNo artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.
  • Grain-freeMade without any grains.
82Very goodDryAdult & senior£1.16 approx.
Essential Older Working
  • High meat34% named meat (30% or more counts as high).
  • NaturalNo artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.
  • Grain-freeMade without any grains.
82Very goodDryAdult & senior£0.97 approx.
Essential Superior Living Working
  • High meat33% named meat (30% or more counts as high).
  • NaturalNo artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.
  • Grain-freeMade without any grains.
82Very goodDryAdult£0.90 approx.
Essential Stamina
  • High meat32% named meat (30% or more counts as high).
  • NaturalNo artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.
  • Grain-freeMade without any grains.
83Very goodDryAdult£1.00 approx.
Essential Stamina Working
  • High meat32% named meat (30% or more counts as high).
  • NaturalNo artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.
  • Grain-freeMade without any grains.
83Very goodDryAdult£0.83 approx.
Essential Nautical Living
  • High meat42% named meat (30% or more counts as high).
  • NaturalNo artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.
  • Grain-freeMade without any grains.
84Very goodDryAdult£1.12 approx.
Essential Nautical Living Working
  • High meat42% named meat (30% or more counts as high).
  • NaturalNo artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.
  • Grain-freeMade without any grains.
84Very goodDryAdult£0.93 approx.
Essential The Beginning
  • High meat34% named meat (30% or more counts as high).
  • NaturalNo artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.
  • Grain-freeMade without any grains.
84Very goodDryPuppy£1.02 approx.
Essential The Beginning Working
  • High meat34% named meat (30% or more counts as high).
  • NaturalNo artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.
  • Grain-freeMade without any grains.
84Very goodDryPuppy£0.85 approx.
Essential Superior Living
  • High meat33% named meat (30% or more counts as high).
  • NaturalNo artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.
  • Grain-freeMade without any grains.
85Very goodDryAdult£1.08 approx.
Essential Estate Living
  • High meat40% named meat (30% or more counts as high).
  • NaturalNo artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.
  • Grain-freeMade without any grains.
86Very goodDryAdult£1.12 approx.
Essential Estate Living Working
  • High meat40% named meat (30% or more counts as high).
  • NaturalNo artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.
  • Grain-freeMade without any grains.
86Very goodDryAdult£0.93 approx.
Essential Highland Living
  • High meat44% named meat (30% or more counts as high).
  • NaturalNo artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.
  • Grain-freeMade without any grains.
88Very goodDryAdult£1.11 approx.
Essential Highland Living Working
  • High meat44% named meat (30% or more counts as high).
  • NaturalNo artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.
  • Grain-freeMade without any grains.
88Very goodDryAdult£0.92 approx.

Our take on Essential Foods

Written by us, from the labels. Never written, reviewed or paid for by the brand.

Essential Foods is a Danish brand with a naming problem. Highland Living, Nautical Living, Estate Living, The Beginning - the names are evocative and tell you nothing about what is in the bag or which dog it suits. Across 28 rated foods the scores run from 59 to 88 out of 100, a spread of 29 points, which is a lot to hide behind a set of names you cannot rank.

The average lands at 80/100 (Very good), ranking 115 of 290, and the top of the range is genuinely good - Essential Highland Living reaches 88/100. Nearly the whole range is grain-free, and the better recipes lead with named meat at declared percentages, which is what earns those scores.

The lower end is where the spread comes from, and nothing in the branding warns you. A dog owner picking by name alone has no way to tell the strong foods from the weak ones, which is precisely the situation our scores exist for.

Cost sits around £0.71 a day at the cheapest, so this is not a budget brand and the weaker lines are not cheap either.

Check the individual food before you buy. With this brand more than most, the name on the front is decoration.

Essential Foods owner reviews

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Essential Foods FAQs

Is Essential Foods a good dog food?

Yes - by the label data, Essential Foods is one of the stronger brands we have rated. Its 28 rated foods average 80/100 (Very good), ranging from 59 to 88 - each food page shows exactly where every point went.

Where is Essential Foods from?

Essential Foods is a dog food brand from Denmark.

What is Essential Foods's best rated food?

Essential Highland Living - it scores 88/100 (Very good), the highest ODF Score in the range we have rated. Its page shows the full breakdown and live prices.

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