Australia's independent dog food value index.
We exist to answer one question for Australian dog owners: are you actually getting good value? Not the marketing, not the loudest brand, but the real cost of feeding your dog well.
Reviewed by the Dog Food Reviews editorial team
Independent scoringUpdated August 2026Not veterinary advice
- 20
- Brands scored
- 39
- Products priced
- 10
- Retailers price-tracked
- 0
- Paid placements
Our thesis
The hidden cost in the dog food aisle.
Dog food pricing in Australia is confusing by design. Bag sizes differ, member prices obscure everyday costs, and retailer-owned ranges sit beside independent ones without obvious labels. Each of these is a small point of leakage, a few dollars here and a hidden margin there, and over a year of feeding they compound into real money lost.
Most owners never see it, because the comparison is hard to do at the shelf. The cheapest bag is almost never the cheapest feed. So we built one transparent model that strips away the noise: a true price per kg, a real cost per day, and a consistent read on ingredients and transparency, applied identically to every brand and every retailer, including Petbarn.
Petbarn is a genuinely convenient, well-ranged retailer: the widest range, stores nationwide and strong member and Repeat Delivery pricing. We simply show, fairly and product-by-product, the price per kg and cost per day at every store, so you can find the best value wherever you prefer to shop.
The hidden cost, measured
One dog, one day, the whole index
Every product we price, on a single scale: what one day of feeding costs a 15kg adult dog at the feeding guide each brand publishes. One tick per product, the middle half of the index shaded, the median ruled. Cost per day is what we plot, because a kilogram of one format and a kilogram of another are not the same amount of feeding.
- MinMin
- $1.00
- Q1Lower quartile
- $2.25
- MedianMedian
- $2.70
- Q3Upper quartile
- $3.20
- MaxMax
- $7.90
| Product | Est. cost per day |
|---|---|
| Black & Gold Adult Dry Dog Food Beef & Vegetables 8kg | $1.00 |
| Julius Adult Dry Dog Food Beef & Vegetables 18kg | $1.10 |
| Woofin' Good! Adult Dry Dog Food Beef & Vegetables 18kg | $1.20 |
| Baxter's Dry Dog Food Chicken & Vegetables 18kg | $1.20 |
| ProBalance Adult Chicken 18kg | $1.50 |
| Leaps & Bounds Grain Free Adult 15kg | $1.90 |
| SavourLife Original Adult Chicken 18kg | $2.00 |
| Black Hawk Adult Chicken & Rice 20kg | $2.10 |
| The Nosh Project Adult 12kg | $2.10 |
| Providore Grain Free Adult 12kg | $2.20 |
| SavourLife Grain Free Adult Lamb 15kg | $2.30 |
| Petzyo Kibble That Counts Chicken & Turkey with Superfood Extras 8kg | $2.32 |
| Ivory Coat Grain Free Adult Lamb 13kg | $2.40 |
| Petzyo Kibble That Counts Kangaroo, Sweet Potato & Superfood Extras 8kg | $2.47 |
| Black Hawk Grain Free Adult Chicken 15kg | $2.50 |
| Petzyo Kibble That Counts Salmon & Ocean Fish with Green Lipped Mussels 8kg | $2.55 |
| Royal Canin Medium Adult 15kg | $2.60 |
| Meals for Mutts Kangaroo & Pumpkin Grain Free 20kg | $2.60 |
| Lyka Free Range Chicken Bowl (fresh, subscription) | $2.68 |
| Hill's Science Diet Adult Chicken 12kg | $2.70 |
| Hill's Science Diet Sensitive Stomach 12kg | $2.90 |
| Lyka Grass Fed Beef Bowl (fresh, subscription) | $2.98 |
| Lyka Wild Caught Kangaroo Bowl (fresh, subscription) | $2.98 |
| Lyka Grass Fed Lamb Bowl (fresh, subscription) | $2.98 |
| Lyka Barn Raised Turkey Bowl (fresh, subscription) | $2.98 |
| Lyka Hypoallergenic Pro Goat Bowl (fresh, subscription) | $2.98 |
| Meals for Mutts Sardine & Salmon Grain Free 9kg | $3.15 |
| Petzyo Raw Royalty Roo's Clues Kangaroo BARF Patties 5.4kg | $3.16 |
| Scratch Grain-Free Turkey & Beef Dry Dog Food 8kg | $3.19 |
| Prime100 SK-D Single Protein Dry Kangaroo 8kg | $3.20 |
| Royal Canin Gastrointestinal (Vet Diet) 15kg | $3.60 |
| Scratch Pasture-Raised Lamb with Ancient Grains Dry Dog Food 8kg | $3.71 |
| Scratch Grain-Free Mackerel & Salmon Dry Dog Food 8kg | $3.82 |
| Scratch Sensitive Kangaroo Grain-Free Dry Dog Food 8kg | $4.39 |
| Prime100 SLR Single Protein Roll Kangaroo 2kg | $4.40 |
| Frontier Pets Free-Range Chicken Air-Dried 1kg | $6.40 |
| Frontier Pets Free-Range Beef Air-Dried 1kg | $6.60 |
| ZIWI Peak Air-Dried Beef 1kg | $7.50 |
| ZIWI Peak Air-Dried Lamb 1kg | $7.90 |
Editorial estimates from our own price index
“The cheapest bag is almost never the cheapest feed.”
Who publishes this site
A PetReviews publication.
Two mastheads, one published methodology. The wider pet category is covered at the parent site; dog food is covered here, in depth, because it is the category Australians research hardest.
Dog Food Reviews is published by PetReviews, an independent Australian pet-product review platform. PetReviews covers the wider pet category: cat food, treats, supplements, flea and worming, grooming, pet insurance and retailer reviews.
Dog food is the category Australians research hardest, so it earned its own masthead. Dog Food Reviews goes deeper on one thing: dog food brands, fresh delivery services, comparisons and feeding costs, all scored on the same 100-point model and held to the same editorial standards as the parent site.
The split is structural rather than cosmetic. Retailer profiles are published on PetReviews, while the price tables that feed them are built and maintained here, because price per kg and cost per day are the reason this masthead exists. Supplements and treats are reviewed there and not here: this index is complete dog food only, so a treat can never dilute a food score.
Looking for cat food, treats, supplements or retailer reviews? You will find them at PetReviews.com.au.
Published here
dogfoodreviews.com.au
- Dog food brands scored
- 20
- Products priced
- 39
- Retailers price-tracked
- 10
- Comparison pages published
- 18
Published at the parent site
petreviews.com.au
- Cat food
- Treats
- Supplements
- Flea and worming
- Grooming
- Pet insurance
- Retailer profiles
We do not print counts for those categories here. They are the parent site's numbers to publish, and a figure we cannot show our working for is a figure we do not print.
Index updated · Counts are of our own index
What we stand for
Three rules we never bend.
Value, measured honestly
We compare dog food by what it actually costs to feed, price per kg and per day, not the sticker price on the bag.
The same model for everyone
Every brand and retailer runs through one published 100-point methodology. No exceptions, no pay-to-play.
Fair, never alarmist
Low scores mean poor value or weaker transparency, never that a product is unsafe. We stay fair and supportive of every retailer, including Petbarn.
Editorial standards
How a score gets made.
Every score on this site is built the same way, from information anyone can go and check. Here is the whole of it, including what we do not do.
The model
Where the 100 points sit
Price and ingredient quality carry the most weight because they are what decides real-world value. The weights are fixed, so the same card is applied to every brand in the index.
| Pillar | Weight |
|---|---|
| Price & Value | 25 pts |
| Ingredient Quality | 25 pts |
| Nutrition & Suitability | 20 pts |
| Transparency | 15 pts |
| Availability & Convenience | 10 pts |
| Customer Sentiment | 5 pts |
Published in full in our methodology
Published information, not laboratory testing
Scores are built from ingredient panels, published nutritional analysis, retail pricing across Australian stockists, ownership disclosures, country of manufacture and publicly known recall history. We do not run laboratory testing or chemical analysis.
Re-scored when something material changes
A reformulation, a recall, a significant price shift or a new manufacturer disclosure sends a brand back through the model, and the whole index is audited once a year in June.
Corrections reviewed inside 10 business days
Send the page URL, the claim and your evidence to our editorial team. Where a material correction is warranted we publish a visible note on the page, update its modified date and recalculate the score.
Conflicts assessed before a review is assigned
Anyone with a direct financial interest in a brand is excluded from scoring it, and our editorial team does not include employees of pet food manufacturers or major pet retailers. 4 people are named on this site and 3 of them carry a published recusal. 2 of those are commercial conflicts, and both are named below: our publisher does not score or write the verdict for a brand he consults for, and our brand and product reviewer takes no part in any retailer coverage. The rest bar a name from work that person is not the basis for rather than from work they have an interest in, and each one is published on their own entry. Our veterinary reviewer holds no commercial conflict, so no recusal sits against his name; what bounds it is a limit of expertise, and he reviews our nutrition and health claims and nothing else.
Samples disclosed, and they change nothing
Where we accept a product sample to assist an assessment, we say so on that review. A sample does not buy coverage, a score or a place in a ranking.
The 2 conflicts we name today
3 of the 4 people named on this site are barred from part of it, and each bar is published rather than kept as an internal note. The 2 below are the commercial conflicts, which is why they are named beside this standard; the others bar a name from work that person is not the basis for, and they sit on that person’s entry in the register. The one remaining name carries no bar at all: what bounds it is a limit of expertise, set out on that person’s own entry.
- Jackson WilsonPublisher, and owner of the scoring methodology
- He is also a brand consultant, which is a commercial interest in the category this site scores. He does not score, rank or write the verdict for any brand he has a consulting relationship with, and any such brand is disclosed on the page it appears on.
- Adam LorimerContributing reviewer, brand and product side
- He formerly worked at PETstock Group. Petstock is one of the retailers this site prices, so he takes no part in any retailer scoring or retailer content, including the retailer comparisons, the cheapest-at-retailer verdicts and the retailer commentary in our price index. He holds no veterinary or nutrition qualification.
Tell us if we got it wrong
Send the page, the claim and your evidence to hello@dogfoodreviews.com.au. Brands use the same address and the same process, and corrections are decided on the evidence rather than on who is asking.
Submit a product for review
Licensed stock photography
Zero paid placements
In our 100-point index. Ever.
How we stay independent
Not pay-to-play. Ever.
Independence only matters if it shows up in the work. Here is exactly how we keep the index honest.
No pet food company owns us
Dog Food Reviews is published by PetReviews, an independent Australian review platform. Neither is owned by, or invested in by, any pet food manufacturer or retailer.
Scores can't be bought
There is no paid placement inside a score or a ranking. Sponsored content, where it appears, is labelled and sits outside the model.
Commissions stay separate
We currently earn nothing from links on this site. If we join an affiliate program in future, affected pages will disclose it, and commissions will never move a brand up or down our index.
Written and reviewed by people.
Every score and verdict on Dog Food Reviews is produced and signed off by our editorial team: analysts who read the ingredient lists, track the prices and apply the same published checks to every brand.
- Written and reviewed by our editorial team
- Analysts who read the ingredient list, price the range across the retailers in our index and apply the same six checks to every brand. Every page is reviewed before it publishes.
- Nobody from the industry scores it
- Our editorial team does not include employees of pet food manufacturers or major pet retailers, and conflicts of interest are assessed before a review is assigned.
- We are not veterinarians, and we say so
- Dog Food Reviews is a value and comparison resource, not veterinary advice. Always speak to your vet before changing your dog's diet.
Reviewed by the Dog Food Reviews editorial team
Independent scoringUpdated August 2026Not veterinary advice