Is Royal Canin better than Farmina

Top Dog food brands available in India and their reviews (2024 updated)

When it comes to our dogs, we want to feed them the best within the budget we can afford to spend every month. Fortunately, in recent years, most global pet food brands have come to India and Indian dog owners now have plenty of options to choose from. India is diversified when it comes to economic conditions and you dont need to be filthy rich to buy/adopt a dog or a pup.

There are dry dog food options that cost anything as high as Rs700-Rs1000/kg to something like Rs1000 for 10kgs. Yes, a lot comes down to what you can pay. In 12 years of pet ownership, we have tried and tested multiple brands on our dogs as well as been in touch with hundreds of pet owners and many veterinarians and learned from their experience.

Most imported brands coming to India attract high import duty and hence, they are overpriced compared to the Indian brands. However international brands are monitored by pet food safety officials in the USA and UK & organizations like AAFCO or FEDIAF, meaning their chances of correctly abiding by the composition, benefits and analytical constituents claimed are much more. In India, in the absence of any overseer like FSSAI in the case of pet food, one just has to accept without verifying what benefits and ingredients any local brand is mentioning on the pack. But that does not mean an India-manufactured pet food cannot be as good or even better than international brands, while most wont be so.

With dog food, while some brands are overpriced especially because of import duty, and marketing, you still get your bang for the buck in most brands. As in most items, a much cheaper brand/product cant be better in quality and palatability than a more premium brand/product. Same in dog food. Ultimately, you get what you pay for. It is always better to stick to time-tested names.

In this article, we are going to look into most commercial dry dog food brands widely available in India both imported and made in India regardless of their price.

1)Super-premium & Pricey, Best money can buy:-

a)Orijen/Acana The priciest commercial dog food per kg available in India comes from Orijen. Not just in India, they are one of the top brands across the world. Their products do have a premium feel when it comes to everything be it ingredient quality or style of packaging. The moment you take one of their packets in your hand, you feel that this is something else. Food is incredibly tasty, most dogs like it. While the priciest does not always mean the best, Orijen & Acana are worth the price if one can afford it.

Pros:

• Thoughtfully sourced ingredients.
• High protein diet.
• Almost natural flavor, some freeze-dried which most dogs like.
• Grain-free, human-grade ingredients.

Cons:

• Extremely pricey, well outside the budget of most pet owners.
• High protein diet might cause stomach issues for some in wild Indian summer or while doing an abrupt change from an inferior brand.
• There have been some lawsuits against them recorded globally in the past regarding heavy metals but the company has defeated such claims in court.
• Now that Mars incorporated, the same parent company behind Pedigree and Royal Canin has taken over Orijen/ Acana, there may be some change in quality or manufacturing process in future.

b)Arden Grange While not as pricey as the above 2, these still can burn a hole in your pocket. However if budget is not an issue, you can well try this for your pooches, see if they like.

Pros:

• Natural ingredients, human grade.
• Good nutritional value.
• Good trusted and time-tested British brand.

Cons:

• Pricey.
• Does not appreciate a sudden change from another diet.

c)Farmina N&D While not as pricey as Orijen or Acana, these still fetch a premium for an average Indian dog owner. One of the first brands to commercialize 100% grain free food in India.

Pros

• 100% grain-free variants available.
• Packaging quality is fair.
• Most Dogs like the taste.
• Grain-free as well as low grain variants available.
• Stress is given on fruits and veggies like pomegranate, pumpkin, blueberry etc apart from meat. Unique variants available.
• Hits a sweet spot in terms of pricing as a premium diet and discounts.
• Good range of veterinary prescription diet as well.

Cons:

• Some reports of dogs experiencing stomach issues while changing feed or in extreme hot weather.

d)Taste of the wild Newly launched in India in the premium price range in 2016. Only select stores across India are selling it as the price is high and the usual rule for retailers is to sell it at MRP. There is quite some demand for this food among premium dog owners who havent used it ever. However, from initial reviews, it seems some dogs are not eating the food. There is something about the taste that few dogs arent liking instantly. Will need more time to figure out exact results. If you are looking for my personal opinion, I think the premium is not justified. Doesnt matter to me first if a food is healthy for dog or not, the first issue most dog owners including me face is if our dogs like the food. Then again appetite varies among dogs from time to time, so we will need more time to reach a conclusion Is the taste of the wild really a taste pet dogs like? It remains to be seen.

e)Purina Pro Plan This premium diet is quite popular in western countries and come with good ingredients. It has made a notable name among the premium market in India within just 1-2 years of launch. There are reports of worms and bad packaging for 12kg packets in rare cases, other than this gives really good results.

As you can see, most of these super-premium brands are high protein complex, much like super-food for dogs. While its a boon in cold countries, in a tropical climate like India, you need to take some care while feeding these especially in summer. While making a change from a lower-grade brand or even home-made food, switch very slowly by mixing it to previous food.

There are many cheaper dog brands who claim huge protein percentage in their diet, claim to be filler or grain free, but in reality, they are far from that. However, all of these above brands do take special care in maintaining the quality of their ingredients and being mostly foreign brands, they are well surveyed by authorities.

While pricey does not mean good, these brands are tried and tested by many. Due to strict regulation in US and UK, these brands are tested from time to time by organizations like AAFCO.

2)Premium, value for money, choice of most :-

a)Royal Canin 75% dog owners who want a premium food for their dog go for this. So much that it has become the benchmark while comparing other brands. However, many who can afford better are unaware they are brands better than Royal Canin. Although they are reasonably value for money, ingredients while not top-notch are good enough for an average pet owner. Also most dogs like the taste.

Pros:

• Value for money(This used to be a pro back in 2016 when we first wrote this article, it is not so now in late 2023 after a series of MRP rises over the years)
• Wide availability in the market.
• Many variants to choose from.
• Ingredient quality fair.
• Good collection of veterinary diet.

Cons

• Lots of packaging issues.
• Be it distributor fault or bad packaging or handling, around 5% users report getting holes in packets or worms due to exposure to outside air regardless where they buy from.
• Over-hyped among many owners and breeders.
• Crazy price rise since the time of first writing this article. Now it is as pricey as orijen and likes. Value for money proposition available in 2013-2019 is lost now as of 2023-2024.
• There is alleged difference in quality of food across different manufactured countries with pet owners preferring France over their other factories in South Africa. However company claims, it is false and all Royal Canin manufactured product lives up to the standards.

b)Hills science plan/ Prescription diet While not as popular as rc, they have quite recently launched new variants of science plan which claim to have good taste and are getting decent reviews from pet owners. Hills prescription diet is much popular than most brands when it comes to veterinary diet. Hills food overall is known to be healthy, less tasty. So if your dog/ puppy accepts to eat it is the first thing to be seen.

Pros

• Affordable for a middle-class dog owner.
• Splendid collect of prescription diet.
• Many dogs who reportedly hated kibble in the past, like some of their variants.

Cons

• Science plan is not popular still, gaining popularity with increased outreach from Hills.
• Variants are kind of jumbled up in names and ingredient list, an issue for an informed dog owner to go for a particular one.
• Not many grain-free variants available.

Update: Hills Inc has left India in late 2023, Hills importer has shut down, so Hills science diet and prescription diet not available anymore in India for the near future.

c)Fidele / Fidele + There have been both good and bad things told about this brand by dog owners. Unless, your dogs like the taste of this very much, we dont see any reason to go over this over Royal canin or Farmina in the same budget range. But if your dog likes this brand, there is no need to swtich to another brand as it is a quality product.

Pros

• Decent ingredient quality.
• Mostly chicken-based, claims to give above average fresh chicken.
• Quite a value for money.

Cons

• Availability in local pet stores can be an issue.

d)Canine Creek/ Drools Focus Probably one of the first grain-free variants from an Indian brand(Drools Focus). Canine creek is also manufactured by the same company that owns drools ( Abis Exports).

Pros

• Much better than regular drools like drools nutrition, team breeder etc although manufactured by them.
• Surprisingly many dogs who hated regular drools seemed to like Canine creek and drools focus.
• Much better than brands mentioned below like pedigree, himalaya, smartheart etc.
• As of 2024, Drools has gained huge funding and has come a long way to be the top Made in India brand for commercial dry food even exporting to other countries.

Cons

• Ingredient list or even the claim of grain free not verified by a competent authority like AAFCO.
• One of those dog food brands who will say any protein percentage and ingredients over their packet, not many sources to verify.

e)Signature Grain-zero This Indian brand is new but promises good quality food in the premium range. It is owned by a subsidiary of IB Indian Broiler Pet Group the same parent company behind Drools & Canine Creek, thus has immense expertise in the dog food sector being a long-term player. Signature sits at a more premium spot than drools and is exported to different countries from India. All their feed are grain-free as the name suggests and include the most common but high-quality ingredients like chicken, egg and vegetables.

f)Smartheart Gold Smartheart gold refers to the premium range from Smartheart Thailand. Smartheart is a popular and well-known brand worldwide and is one the best feed in the economy food category. This new premium range from Smartheart should live up to the name.

e)Calibra Dog food Calibra is a well-known imported brand with a wide range of veterinary prescription diets as well as normal dry food. Calibra is a popular brand in the EU and many other first-world countries. Quality-wise calibra is very good, however only select stores keep it not widely distributed in India as of now. But if you can get your hands on 1, you wont regret especially their veterinary diet range.

f)Mankind Petstar Mankind, the renowned human as well as veterinary pharma company launched its dry dog food range last year in 2023. Being a quality product from Mankind, this one was expected to be very good and should have got high demand. However, that was not the case and it has certainly fallen short as demand has not been as much as expected from a brand like mankind. However, the ingredients in the food are good as is expected of a brand like mankind and you can certainly give this a try. Palatability is not as good. If you are already set on one brand and your dog likes it, we see no reason to choose this over any of the other brands in this price range. It may gain traction in the future as more variants are launched.

g)IAMS dog food IAMS comes from the house of Mars Incorporated the biggest dog food company in the world and same company behind Pedigree, Whiskas, Sheba, Royal Canin. Unlike Pedigree belonging to the economy range, IAMS is the premium dry dog food from Mars. Since, IAMS is supplied by same distributors of Whiskas and pedigree, it means its reach and availability is high. Any shop selling pedigree should be able to stock and supply IAMS dog food. If you are looking for something to upgrade from pedigree, IAMS can be a good choice.

3)Economy grade, cheap, not recommended if you can afford better :-

a)Pedigree, Smartheart (excepting Smartheart Gold), Regular Drools (Excepting Drools focus), Purepet, Purina Supercoat No reason to feed these unless you are extremely short on budget or you have no time to make even something as simple as curd rice.

Cons

• Pedigree is the name most dogs owners know, yet it is one of the worst out there in terms of ingredient quality.
• Not grain-free. Filled with cheap fillers.
• As their pricing suggests, it wont be possible to give good ingredients other than fillers in this price range. These brands arent running at a loss, are they?
• It is quite likely your dog wont touch the kibble if not mixed with wet dog food or home-made additives like chicken stalk. For some, palatability is good but ingredient quality is poor.
• If fed to puppy, growth wont be good.

Pros

• Powerpack from smartheart & Purepet from Drools have got relatively better reviews and good demand among economy grade food. These should be the first choices in this range.
• An ideal choice for those running a shelter or short on budget.
• Pedigree is still the most popular dry food, many dog owners dont know the name of any other brand.
• Regular drools is as good as(or as bad as) pedigree.
• No import duties on these as they are Indian brands. Smart heart being imported from Thailand sees less customs duty over US brands.
• There has been good improvement among economy dog food brands, more so than the premium category with increased competition.
• With more than 50 brands coming to India or originating in the past 7 years, Pedigree still remains the highest selling dog food in India in terms of volume.

b)Himalaya Dog food Although not as expensive as the rest in this category, Himalaya dog food lives up to the expectations in terms of being healthy. Most himalaya products are value for money and this healthy pet food which has been recently launched by Himalaya in June 2019 is expected to be no different. So far we have had mixed reviews about this. Most dogs liked it, few dogs didnt. Himalaya product will be healthy no doubt, taste of the dry food (if your dog likes) is the most important factor here.

Pros

• Himalaya products are known for their low price yet are very effective.
• Goodness of herbals along with chicken & rice.
• Expected to be better in quality than brands in the same price range.

Cons

• Not grain-free. Can be a better alternative to other economy grade food like pedigree, no match for premium dry food like royal canin, farmina etc.
• Low palatability. While some dogs like the food, reports of many puppies and dogs not liking the food are appearing. They are eating it only when mixed with chicken or curd, which defeats the whole purpose of dry food. The acceptability ratio is low in terms of taste.

c)Meat Up This is an online-only economy brand from the house of Abis exports the same company behind drools or canine creek. We see no reason why this should be a better choice than regular drools or pedigree in the same price range. If you are in a tight budget and getting good buy 1 get 1 offers which they run, you should only then look at this brand. It is unlikely to be found in any offline pet shop in India which is not the case in any other brands in this list.

There are plenty of other brands in economy range like cp classic, happy dogs which are below-average. We are not going to waste your time talking about them.

Disclaimer:-

Many dog food brand reviews on the internet and elsewhere are biased, many are based on the margin given to the retailer or veterinarian.

This review is based on cumulative experience from multiple pet owners over years. Its not like we have kept it limited to only brands we sell nor is there any commercial intent at praising a particular brand in this article.

Many dry food brands like Blue Buffalo, Mera Dog, Goodness Grains, Wag & Love and Baked/ air-dried/ fresh kitchen-meal dog food brands recently sprawling in India which we havent used ourselves yet in plenty or heard from dog owners much, have not been considered while writing this review. Also, we have not included any wet food brands like Little Big Paw in this dry food list.

So based on your budget, you can make an informed decision in deciding your pets diet. Before going for a new brand, it is recommended to see if your dog likes it even though reviews may be good. Dogs are much like humans, they have their own choice too. Even though a brand may have good ingredients but if your dog doesnt like the taste or odor, it will be of no use. So do not take reviews for granted and go for a 15kg bag in 1st go. Trial and error is the way to go for dogs who are fussy and hate kibble.

Dogs like labs, and goldens can be picky and you have to leave half of the decision on them based on what impresses their mouth. But dogs like pugs and the likes who like and will eat anything and everything edible give you much freedom in making an informed decision yourself. Regardless you give them Orijen or pedigree, they will probably like both. Home-made food+dry food can be an effective combination for many fussy dogs. I have seen countless dog owners whose pets show reluctance to eat dry food alone. They give boiled meat + dry food or curd + dry food or home-made food like chicken-rice which is healthy too. The problem with 100% home food is that it becomes difficult at times to achieve a balanced diet. Hence, mixing homemade food with dry kibble is the best choice for many.

There are at times dogs and pups who do not want to eat dry food or any food be it orijen or any other brand. Even if they eat or are fed forcibly, they intake very small amounts, that too with reluctance. In those cases, we have seen the absence of exercise to be the primary cause of the decreased/no appetite. If a high-energy dog say GSD stays indoors all day and night, you cant blame him or the food brand you are feeding for not eating. For dogs, the primary thing for good growth as well as nutrition is sufficient exercise, something that is hard to get for pet dogs in modern urban life.

Dogs like pugs who need very little exercise eat most food well however a high-energy dog who is not taken out and exercised regularly, will not show proper growth or eat any food dry or home-made. Many times in the shop, we hear from customers my dog is not eating this food of brand A, I want another brand or my dog ate this in puppy age, not eating now. For them, we first suggest increasing the exercise of dogs by incorporating outdoor or indoor activities rather than trying something else. A lazy dog not burning calories just wont eat at times. Switching from brand to brand or trying different recipes wont work if your dog is not spending sufficient energy every day.

Have you tried any other brand and got good results? Do let us know in the comments below.