Today we are comparing Canine Caviar’s Free Spirit Chicken & Pearl Millet Formula to The Honest Kitchen Whole Grain Clusters – Chicken & Oat Recipe. The Honest Kitchen’s Whole Grain Clusters line is intended as an alternative to traditional kibble focused on healthy ingredients and minimal processing; points we like to make with our kibble as well. We’ll compare the ingredients, calories, and pricing of each of these formulas and see how they differ. Both formulas incorporate chicken as its first ingredient and are both grain inclusive making this comparison even.
Honest Kitchen Ingredients Comparison
Canine Caviar = 31 ingredients. The Honest Kitchen = 42 ingredients.
We start the comparison by looking at the ingredients for both products. Ingredients are an essential aspect to food quality. Knowing what proteins, carbohydrates, and other nutrients your dog receives is important information to know. The Honest Kitchen and Canine Caviar approach formulation and nutrition in similar ways. Both companies offer limited ingredients, simple diets, and minimal processing.
Canine Caviar diets limit the number of possible allergens your dogs are exposed to. Our Free Spirit diet utilizes 31 ingredients which is lower than the industry standard which typically ranges in the 40’s and 50’s. Our first ingredient is dehydrated chicken.
The Honest Kitchen’s Whole Grain Chicken Clusters uses 42 ingredients in its recipe. This formula also uses chicken as their first ingredient but that is where the similarity ends. Honest Kitchen utilizes different ingredients than Canine Caviar which we’ll see with better detail in the following comparison.
Ingredient Profiles
The ingredient profile is another way to look at ingredients in any kibble. We split up the ingredients to show the make-up of the formula. It shows how many proteins, carbs, and other nutrients account for the formula and what may not be the best ingredient for your dog. Using this gives us a better sense of what we’re feeding our dogs. We also get a better feel for each respective brands’ nutritional philosophy.
Canine Caviar formulas incorporate a single protein and one carbohydrate. It keeps allergens limited and helps with effective digestion. The first three ingredients (dehydrated chicken, pearl millet, lamb fat) make up 85% of the total formula. That means you’re getting the most out of your dollar. We keep formulas simple because your dog deserves proper nutrition. More than one protein or carb can make digestion difficult and your dog won’t get all the necessary nutrients he needs. By limiting the number of ingredients, your dog will have an easier time breaking down food and staying healthy. We also use 12 botanicals that create the alkaline effect that maximizes your dog’s health. Our array of botanicals also helps support the coat, skin, and eyes. 15 vitamins and minerals help complete the formula by providing other essential nutrients to your dog’s system.
The Honest Kitchen’s approach is slightly different. The Whole Grain Chicken Clusters Recipe includes 2 protein sources: Chicken and Chicken Liver. There’s also 2 carbohydrate sources: Oats and Barley. More proteins and carbs means more digestive power. Your dog will have to work extra hard to absorb nutrients. The Honest Kitchen uses 12 botanicals different from ours but serving similar purposes. The recipe is completed with 21 vitamins and minerals; 6 more to Canine Caviar’s 15. Although these two formulas seem close, you can see how they differ when we look at calories.
Honest Kitchen Calorie Comparison
Calories are key for judging the quality of a dog food. The more calories a kibble has, the less you need feed your dog so you’ll also save money in the long run. You might be asking what determines differences in calories? Processing eliminates a kibble’s natural calories and lowers the digestibility. The quality of ingredients also effects calorie count. You should see calories as a sign that the kibble was better able to maintain its original nutritional value.
Canine Caviar Free Spirit has 599 Kcal/8oz. How do we accomplish such a high calorie count? The key too our success is securing the nutritional value. We use a flash cooking process instead of other conventional practices. This process cooks the kibble’s exterior for a couple seconds and helps save the nutritional integrity of the product. We use healthy sustainable ingredients which helps keeps calories abundant. Lastly, we don’t use additives, preservatives, artificial flavors, or GMOs.
The Honest Kitchen Whole Grain Chicken has 428 Kcal/8oz. That means that The Honest Kitchen has 171 less calories per cup than Canine Caviar. That’s a big difference. Why is there such a difference between the 2 products? Calorie difference can be linked to the quality or amount of ingredients. Dehydrated meat for example has more calories per pound the fresh meat. That’s because since you take away the moisture, the weight of meat is reduced. That means that 1 pound of dehydrated meat is more than 1 pound of fresh meat. Another reason of calories difference is the processing procedures at hand. Processing eliminates calories which is why Canine Caviar keeps processing minimal.
Price Comparison
Price is always a considerable factor when choosing kibble. Canine Caviar and The Honest Kitchen offer similar pricing but different size options. The prices for this comparison are based on 2021 online prices from each brand’s respective official or partner websites. The Honest Kitchen offers 3 different sizes (1, 5 & 20 lbs). Canine Caviar on the other hand offers a 4.4, 11, and 22lb bag. Pricing is very competitive down the line but Canine Caviar has the added benefit of Alkalinity and higher calories. It seems like Canine Caviar overall seems like the better deal. We should also look at pricing in a different way to better understand.
Cost To Feed Per Day
This comparison shows how much it costs per day to feed your dog based on our formula. The formula takes into account a dog’s average caloric needs and the calories and weight of the represented dog food. This is the best way to see how any particular brand gices you value for your dollar.
Canine Caviar’s Free Spirit costs $1.44 a day while The Honest Kitchen cost $1.80 per day. That’s a difference of $.36 and can be linked to the difference in calories. Higher calories per cup can really help lower your costs while improving the health of your dog.