The best thing about having so many fresh dog food brands on the market today is the number of choices.
The worst thing about having so many fresh dog food brands on the market is the — well, number of choices. Few people have the time, money, or resources to sink into comparing six different fresh dog food companies. Today, I’m going to simplify your life by giving you a quick-and-easy rundown of how two of the top brands compare.
If you’ve ever watched a little show called Shark Tank, there’s a good chance you’ve already heard about PetPlate. The sharks didn’t offer PetPlate a deal but the company went on to enjoy nationwide recognition and success. Meanwhile, The Farmer’s Dog — one of PetPlate’s top competitors — seems to have no problem keeping pace.
I ordered fresh dog food from both companies so that I could assess their delivery speed and packaging quality, taste test the food (it’s okay — the food is human-grade!), and determine which brand is the better value.
Now that I’ve tried recipes from PetPlate and The Farmer’s Dog, it’s time to report back on how the two brands stack up in terms of quality, convenience, and cost.
Who should get PetPlate?
PetPlate can be a good choice if you’re looking for a company that offers a lot of flavor variety. The textures of the foods are great, however they’re not my favorite-tasting dog food.
CLICK HERE: Check for deals on PetPlate →Who should get The Farmer’s Dog?
The Farmer’s Dog produces superior quality food with superior quality flavor. If food quality is your key concern, then The Farmer’s Dog won’t let you down — nor will it disappoint your pup’s tastebuds.
CLICK HERE: Get my best deal for The Farmer’s Dog →Quality
You’re probably wondering what I look at when I test fresh dog food.
I typically consider four key characteristics: appearance, smell, taste, and ingredients. Let’s find out how PetPlate and The Farmer’s Dog compare across each of these fronts.
Appearance
Both PetPlate and The Farmer’s Dog sell great-looking food. But, there’s a clear winner.
PetPlate recipes come with substantial chunks of vegetables. Green beans, peas, carrots, and potatoes, not to mention whole grains. Unfortunately, the meat tends to look like it’s been ground to a pasty pulp. Their pork dish, which has hearty portions of meat, is the lone exception.
On the other hand, the appetizing hunks of meat you get from The Farmer’s Dog food are one of my favorite things about the brand. Their recipes also come with an abundance of chopped broccoli, carrots, lentils, and grains.
The colors are vibrant, too: bright-green broccoli florets and eye-popping carrots. This is more than regular, boring dog food — the dishes actually look like something you’d want to eat. More than anything, The Farmer’s Dog recipes look fresh and their inspiration is homemade dog food.
While both brands’ fresh food are appealing to the eye, I’d say The Farmer’s Dog takes the lead in this category.
Smell
Neither brand really stood out in terms of smell. For the most part, both PetPlate and The Farmer’s Dog had appetizing, clean, and fresh aromas. It wasn’t too hard to pick up the scent of their individual ingredients. Neither brand’s recipes had any off-putting or herbal odors, which is sometimes the case with other dog food brands.
Taste
Unfortunately, PetPlate’s flavors are strong in many cases — too strong. I wasn’t exactly excited to try them again.
That being said, what PetPlate really has going for it is the texture of its chunky vegetables and grains. This managed to make up for the pungent flavors and allowed for a more pleasant dining experience.
Let’s be real, though: the dishes still kind of taste like dog food. I think the strong flavors may be the direct result of their recipes using too much organ meat. Of course, The Farmer’s Dog includes organ meat in their recipes, too, so I don’t think any inherent organ-meat aversion is necessarily responsible for the difference in my reviews.
By contrast, The Farmer’s Dog’s recipes are across-the-board delicious. They’re always a pleasure to eat. Without a doubt, they’re among the best fresh dog food brands I’ve tried. The textures are great, the flavors are clean and fresh, and there are no mysterious ingredients to be found.
If you want to feel confident about the tastiness of the food you feed your furry friend, I’d argue that The Farmer’s Dog is about as good as it gets. They definitely have the upper hand on PetPlate when it comes to flavor complexity.
Where taste is concerned, The Farmer’s Dog is the obvious winner.
CLICK HERE: Get my best deal for The Farmer’s Dog →Ingredients
Pet parents have six PetPlate recipes from which to choose. The Farmer’s Dog only offers four.
Both companies hire board-certified veterinary nutritionists to formulate their fresh dog food. That means their recipes are nutritionally balanced to meet AAFCO standards (always check with your veterinarian to confirm your dog’s nutritional needs first). If your dog has food allergies, both brands offer customization.
Furthermore, PetPlate and The Farmer’s Dog use human-grade ingredients. They cook the food in USDA kitchens, which means their dog food is held to the same safety standards as human food.
Again, talk with your vet about any nutritional concerns, but the main factor I personally like to consider are the recipes’ protein content as fed. Both PetPlate and The Farmer’s Dog’s recipes are nearly identical at 8% to 11% protein as fed. This is pretty much in line with the average protein content of other fresh dog food brands.
Convenience
Let’s see how convenient these companies are for pet owners when it comes to shipping speed, product packaging, and managing and canceling your subscriptions.
Purchasing
PetPlate and The Farmer’s Dog require dog owners to sign up for a subscription before purchasing their food. This makes them similar to other dog food delivery brands.
Having said that, it’s super easy to cancel your subscription with these companies if you decide their dog food isn’t right for your pet. I simply logged into their website to view my account dashboard and, with a few clicks, I was able to cancel my subscriptions. Voila — no further shipments and no further charges.
Shipping
Among these two fresh dog food services, I had a faster experience with The Farmer’s Dog in terms of shipping.
With PetPlate, I placed my order on a Sunday night and my shipment arrived two Tuesdays later. That’s a full six business days between when I placed my order and when I received the package.
With The Farmer’s Dog, I also placed my order on a Sunday night. It was ready and on my doorstep by the following Wednesday, which means it only took two full business days to get my shipment. That was pretty fast. Keep in mind that shipping times may vary depending on your location with the United States.
Both brands send well-packed shipments on dry ice to keep the food nice and frozen. PetPlate’s shipping materials and insulation are 100% recyclable, so once it’s unpacked you can throw everything in your recycling bin.
The Farmer’s Dog, on the other hand, uses cellulose insulation that you have to dissolve in water and run down your sink. Personally, I find this to be a bit more of a hassle.
The Farmer’s Dog definitely takes the cake in terms of speed, while PetPlate still has something to offer when it comes to packing materials.
As always, use my links below to get the best deal I know about from The Farmer’s Dog and PetPlate. I’ll always keep these discount links up to date.
CLICK HERE: Check for deals on PetPlate → CLICK HERE: Get my best deal for The Farmer’s Dog →Packaging
PetPlate sends their food in plastic containers with a lid, which are perfect for storage. Although, I guess I’m not a huge fan of all the plastic. Another nice touch is that the containers include information about the ingredients and nutrition.
Each container holds 12 ounces or about 340 grams of food. This is a reasonable portion size and easy to thaw one at a time, meaning you’re less likely to have leftovers.
The Farmer’s Dog does a great job with their packaging, too. They vacuum seal their frozen patties in thin blocks for speedier defrosting.
Now, what I don’t love about The Farmer’s Dog’s packaging is that there’s no easy-peel tabs. You’ll need to reach for a pair of scissors every time you open one up.
Each of their frozen patties are right around a pound. This is a little more than PetPlate, but not too much. When it’s time to serve the food, just take it out of your freezer and put it in your fridge to thaw overnight.
Once defrosted, PetPlate says the food should be consumed within one week, whereas The Farmer’s Dog says you only have about four days.
Cost
Of course, we have to talk about pricing.
I always compare costs on a dollars-per-pound basis. This keeps the comparisons fair, since most of these fresh dog food companies use a slightly different method to evaluate your dog’s nutritional requirements and therefore a variable amount of food. As a result, the dollars-per-week or dollars-per-day basis that they give you is not necessarily an apples-to-apples comparison.
According to my calculations, PetPlate comes in at about $7 per pound. That’s about as cheap as it gets. The only other fresh dog food brand I’ve tried that’s cheaper is Ollie, which doesn’t taste great and has a really unpleasant texture.
The Farmer’s Dog comes in at about $7 per pound too. Their dog food tastes fantastic, so I think it’s worth it.
As human-grade [1], freshly-cooked dog food products, PetPlate and the Farmer’s Dog have a lot of similarities. However, there are some notable differences to keep in mind when you’re choosing between the two. I prefer The Farmer’s Dog, perhaps your pup will too!
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