Essential The Beginning Large Breed review

Name: Essential Foods Essential The Beginning Large Breed
Brand: Essential Foods

Dry Puppy Grain free Natural Sensitive stomach Joint care Fussy eaters Digestion

Very good

A genuinely strong dry food. 30% declared meat content is respectable, and the label tells you exactly what is inside. Feeding it costs about £1.50 a day for a typical adult dog - the breakdown below shows exactly what that buys.

Our community ratingNo owner reviews yet - be the first.

Write a review

Label last checked July 17, 2026

Image © Essential Foods

+ Add to compare

Top 28%scores higher than 72% of rated foodsacross all 3530 foods we've scored

Very goodscore bandthe dot marks where it sits among every food we've rated

£1.50 approx.per day for a 15 kg dogcheaper than 8% of dry foods

30%declared meat content

362kcal per 100 g

Where the points went

The full breakdown, exactly as the algorithm scored it. How our rating works

Ingredient quality

Weighted ingredient quality 72/100 across 34 ingredients (declared percentages used for 6, position estimates for the rest).

28.9 / 40

Label clarity

Every ingredient individually named (+5); percentages cover 79% of the recipe (+4.7); meat sources named (+2); recipe reads as a fixed formula (+2).

13.7 / 15

Additives

No artificial colours, flavours, controversial preservatives or added sugars found.

10 / 10

Red flags

No red-flag ingredients.

0 / 0

Meat content

Declared meat content 65% (added up from every named meat on the label). Held to dry-matter protein: 30.6% DM protein supports this level of meat credit, not the full declared figure.

14.7 / 15

Nutritional balance

Estimated carbohydrate 42% dry matter (moderate); fat 15.3% DM in the healthy band; fibre 3.8% DM (+2); ash 8.7% DM - sensible mineral load (+1.5); functional extras: omega-3 source, pre/probiotics, joint support, named botanicals (+2).

7.7 / 10

Processing

Assumed extruded kibble (standard high-heat process).

6 / 10

ODF Score

Algorithm v1.4.0 · scored July 28, 2026 · full methodology public

81 / 100

Our analysis

Breaking the 81 down: the biggest single loss is ingredient quality, where it takes 28.9 of a possible 40. Its strongest showing is additives at 10 of 10.

The label declares 30% meat, which is a real number, which already puts it ahead of the many that print none, and the ingredient list names things individually rather than hiding them in catch-all categories.

At about £1.50 a day to feed a 15kg dog, the question is not whether it is cheap but whether the label justifies the price - and on our scoring, it broadly does.

Ingredients

Straight from the label, grouped by role - every ingredient is coloured by our published classification and links to its full page.

Good qualityAcceptable / watch the amountRed flagGeneric / neutralOutlined = first five on the label

Feeding & cost

What a bag actually costs to feed - worked out per dog, not per pack.

Pack size	RRP	Per kg
10 kg	£75.00	£7.50

How heavy is your dog?

A typical 15 kg adult dog needs about 200 g a day = £1.50 / day, £45.60 / month.

How we work this out

Energy: an adult dog at rest needs about 95 × weight^0.75 kcal a day (the FEDIAF maintenance formula - a 15 kg dog works out near 725 kcal).
Portion: divide that by this food's energy density, 362 kcal/100g, to get the grams above - a denser food needs fewer grams.
Cost: multiply the grams by this food's price, £7.50 / kg, for the daily cost, then by 30.4 days for the month.

Estimates scale to your dog's weight and the food's calorie density - a denser food needs fewer grams. A rough guide; always follow the pack. This is a puppy food, but the figures above are for an adult dog at maintenance - the same reference we use on every food so costs stay comparable. A growing puppy needs roughly twice the energy for its weight, so feed to the pack, not to this. Try the full feeding calculator

Nutrition

Declared analysis converted to a dry-matter basis, so wet and dry foods compare fairly.

Protein

30.6 % DM

Directory average: 28.2

Fat

15.3 % DM

Directory average: 14.9

Est. carbs

41.5 % DM

Directory average: 45.1

Fibre

3.8 % DM

Directory average: 3.7

Ash

8.7 % DM

Directory average: 7.9

Energy

362 kcal/100g

Directory average: 374

Carbohydrates are estimated: 100% minus protein, fat, fibre, ash and moisture.

Similar foods that score higher

Same type and life stage, better ODF Score, comparable price per day.

EdenEden 80/20 Puppy Cuisine90

£1.36 / day approx.See review

WolfworthyWolfworthy 80/20 Countryside90

£1.57 / day approx.See review

WolfworthyWolfworthy 80/20 Oily Fish90

£1.56 / day approx.See review

AkelaAkela 80:20 Fish Feast89

£1.10 / day approx.See review

Write a review of Essential The Beginning Large Breed

Your rating (optional)

Your dog's breed (optional)AgeFed this food for

Your review

Your nameEmail (kept private)

Create an account so your review publishes as soon as you confirm your email (optional)

Your email above becomes your sign-in. Reviews from confirmed accounts skip the moderation queue, and you can see all of yours in one place.

Yes, create my account

Choose a passwordConfirm password

Profile picture (optional)Shown next to your reviews. It appears straight away - we re-save every picture, which strips location data and anything hidden in the file.

Show my review as "Anonymous" I confirm this is my own honest, genuine experience.

Your email stays private - we only use it to confirm genuine reviews. Reviews are checked before they appear.

Related guides

How to switch your dog’s food without upsetting their stomachRead the guide

Puppy feeding guide: how much, how often, and when to switchRead the guide

How much does it really cost to feed a dog?Read the guide

This is label analysis, not veterinary advice - if your dog has a health condition, talk to your vet before switching foods.