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Fresh dog food delivery · Australia 2026

Best fresh dog food in Australia (2026)

Gently cooked fresh delivery, ranked against the closest alternatives by format: subscription kibble, raw, air-dried and chilled rolls. Scored out of 100 on the same methodology as every brand we review, with honest labels on what is truly fresh and what is not.

Reviewed by the Dog Food Reviews editorial team

Independent scoring · Updated August 2026 · Not veterinary advice

Fresh dog food ingredients being prepared
What counts as fresh

Fresh, gently cooked dog food, defined

Fresh dog food, often called gently cooked, is made from lightly cooked, human-grade ingredients and kept chilled or frozen rather than extruded into shelf-stable pellets. In Australia it is sold almost entirely as a direct-to-consumer subscription: you answer a questionnaire about your dog, meals arrive frozen and pre-portioned, and the plan repeats on a cycle you control.

It is not automatically the right choice for every dog or budget. Fresh food carries the highest per-day cost of any mainstream feeding style and needs real freezer space, while a quality kibble remains a legitimate everyday diet with different trade-offs. If you are still weighing the formats themselves, our fresh vs kibble guide compares them side by side. Below, we rank the fresh options and the closest fresh-adjacent alternatives, and we say plainly which is which.

Fresh tends to suit

  • Dogs with sensitivities that do well on single-protein recipes
  • Fussy eaters that walk away from dry food
  • Owners who want portions calculated for them, not guessed

Think twice if

  • You want the lowest possible per-day feeding cost
  • Freezer space is already at a premium
  • You prefer grabbing food in store rather than a subscription
Best fresh dog food deliveryOur top pick
Lyka logo

Lyka

Fresh, gently cooked · delivered frozen

Lyka is the highest-scored brand in our index at 87/100, and the score is earned where fresh food should earn it: ingredient quality (90), transparency (91) and nutrition (88). Meals are human-grade and gently cooked, complete and balanced to AAFCO all-life-stages, and portioned to your dog's age, weight and body condition during onboarding, so there is no serving-size guesswork.

Know the trade-offs

  • Premium price point, typically the most expensive way to feed a dog day to day
  • Subscription-only and direct-to-consumer, so not available to grab in shops
  • Frozen delivery needs dedicated freezer space and some defrost planning
Strong
Overall score · out of 100
90
Ingredient qualityExcellent
91
TransparencyExcellent
88
Nutrition & suitabilityStrong

Around $2.68-$2.98 a day at our 15kg adult benchmark. Editorial estimate: real pricing is per dog, so confirm current pricing with Lyka.

Check your dog's Lyka meal planRead our full Lyka review

Affiliate link: we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Commissions never change scores.

Ranked by score

The best fresh and fresh-adjacent dog food, ranked

Straight talk before the list: only one entry here is gently cooked fresh food delivered to your door, and that is Lyka. The other five are the closest alternatives by format, ranked by the same published scores as the rest of the site, with the format named on every card.

01Lyka logo87
LykaTrue fresh delivery

Fresh, gently cooked · Super-premium · est. $2.68-$2.98/day at 15kg

The only true gently cooked fresh food delivery in this line-up, and the highest-scored brand in our entire index. Recipes are human-grade, formulated with veterinary input, complete and balanced for all life stages, and portioned to your dog from an onboarding questionnaire before arriving frozen at your door.

Pros

  • Human-grade, gently-cooked fresh food with full ingredient and nutrient transparency on every recipe
  • Vet-formulated and complete and balanced to AAFCO all-life-stages across the range
  • Portions are calculated to each dog's age, weight and body condition during onboarding

Watch-outs

  • Premium price point, typically the most expensive way to feed a dog day to day
  • Subscription-only and direct-to-consumer, so not available to grab in shops
  • Frozen delivery needs dedicated freezer space and some defrost planning
Read our Lyka review
02Scratch logo86
ScratchFresh alternative, not gently cooked

Subscription kibble + frozen raw · Premium · est. $3.19-$4.39/day at 15kg

Straight up: Scratch is not gently cooked fresh food. It is an Australian subscription kibble with a complete frozen raw line, and it sits this high because its transparency is class-leading. Scratch publishes the exact percentage of every ingredient, and the delivered-to-your-door model gives you most of the fresh-subscription convenience at a lower per-day spend.

Pros

  • Class-leading transparency: publishes the exact percentage of every ingredient
  • Made in Australia with the large majority of ingredients sourced from local farms
  • High-protein recipes (mostly 28-30%+) with options for sensitivities and single proteins

Watch-outs

  • Higher price per kilo than mainstream supermarket and big-box brands
  • Subscription and direct delivery only, so you cannot grab a bag in-store
  • Compact range with no dedicated wet food line
Read our Scratch review
0384
Frontier PetsFresh alternative, shelf-stable

Air-dried raw · Super-premium · est. $6.40-$6.60/day at 15kg

Air-dried raw made from free-range, regeneratively farmed Australian meat, with sourcing transparency that is about as good as it gets. It is not chilled fresh food: it lives in the pantry, needs no freezer and rehydrates easily, which makes it the strongest option when freezer space rules a frozen subscription out.

Pros

  • Free-range, regeneratively farmed meat with named sourcing
  • Complete air-dried raw diet that is shelf-stable, no freezer needed
  • Outstanding transparency on ingredients and ethics

Watch-outs

  • Genuinely expensive per kg once rehydrated
  • Mostly direct-to-consumer, so patchy on retail shelves
  • The ethical story can make it easy to overlook the price
Read our Frontier Pets review
04Petzyo logo83
PetzyoFresh alternative, dry + frozen raw

Kibble + raw BARF subscription · Premium · est. $2.32-$3.16/day at 15kg

A Melbourne-based subscription that lets you mix single-protein kibble with frozen raw BARF patties on one flexible plan. It is not gently cooked fresh, but the raw side brings some of the fresh-food appeal at a friendlier per-day cost, with strong label transparency across the range.

Pros

  • 100% Australian made and owned, with ethically sourced local ingredients
  • Single-protein recipes that suit dogs with sensitivities or food intolerances
  • Full ingredient lists and guaranteed analysis published openly for every recipe

Watch-outs

  • Premium pricing, especially compared with supermarket and value brands
  • Mainly sold direct or via Petstock, so harder to grab off the shelf at major chains
  • Frozen raw patties need freezer space and a little prep planning
Read our Petzyo review
05ZIWI Peak logo81
ZIWI PeakFresh alternative, air-dried

Air-dried · Super-premium · est. $7.50-$7.90/day at 15kg

Gently air-dried New Zealand recipes with very high named-meat inclusion and genuinely minimal processing. There is no subscription here: you buy it through pet retailers, and the per-day cost is the steepest on this page, so it suits smaller dogs and owners who put the ingredient panel first.

Pros

  • Very high named-meat inclusion
  • Excellent ingredient transparency
  • Air-dried, minimally processed

Watch-outs

  • Among the highest price per kg and per serve in the index
  • Value lags well behind ingredient quality
  • Small bag sizes inflate the real cost of feeding
Read our ZIWI Peak review
06Prime100 logo78
Prime100Fresh adjacent, chilled rolls

Single-protein rolls, air-dried + dry · Premium · est. $3.20-$4.40/day at 15kg

An Australian single-protein specialist whose chilled fresh rolls are the closest thing to fresh food you can pick up in a pet store fridge, alongside air-dried and dry formats. Built for elimination feeding and sensitive dogs; price the rolls per serve before you commit, because value varies a lot between formats.

Pros

  • Single named protein options
  • Great for sensitive stomachs and elimination diets
  • Australian made

Watch-outs

  • Rolls are expensive per kg for a simple single-protein recipe
  • Format sprawl makes value hard to compare like-for-like
  • You pay a premium for the limited-ingredient positioning
Read our Prime100 review
Side by side

Fresh delivery and its alternatives, compared

#1
Brand
Lyka
Format
Fresh, gently cooked
Price tier
Super-premium
Est. cost/day*
$2.68-$2.98
How you buy
DTC subscription, delivered frozen
Score
87
Review
Read review
#2
Brand
Scratch
Format
Subscription kibble + frozen raw
Price tier
Premium
Est. cost/day*
$3.19-$4.39
How you buy
DTC subscription
Score
86
Review
Read review
#3
Brand
Frontier Pets
Format
Air-dried raw
Price tier
Super-premium
Est. cost/day*
$6.40-$6.60
How you buy
DTC + online retail
Score
84
Review
Read review
#4
Brand
Petzyo
Format
Kibble + raw BARF subscription
Price tier
Premium
Est. cost/day*
$2.32-$3.16
How you buy
DTC subscription + Petstock
Score
83
Review
Read review
#5
Brand
ZIWI Peak
Format
Air-dried
Price tier
Super-premium
Est. cost/day*
$7.50-$7.90
How you buy
Retail, in store + online
Score
81
Review
Read review
#6
Brand
Prime100
Format
Single-protein rolls, air-dried + dry
Price tier
Premium
Est. cost/day*
$3.20-$4.40
How you buy
Retail, in store + online
Score
78
Review
Read review

*Editorial estimates for a ~15kg adult dog, based on each brand's published pricing and feeding guides at the time of writing. Real costs depend on your dog's weight, the recipe and any subscription discount, so always confirm current pricing with the brand or retailer.

The delivery model

How fresh dog food delivery works in Australia

Fresh feeding is a routine as much as a product. Here is the cycle you are signing up for, based on the published models of the subscription brands in this guide.

01

Tell them about your dog

An onboarding questionnaire covers age, weight, body condition and sensitivities. Portions are then calculated per dog, which is one of the biggest practical differences from scooping kibble.

02

Meals arrive frozen

Boxes ship frozen in insulated packaging on a repeating cycle set by your plan size. Larger dogs mean bigger, more frequent boxes.

03

Freezer in, fridge to thaw

The box lives in the freezer; the next day or two of meals thaw in the fridge. Plan dedicated freezer space before you subscribe, not after.

04

Adjust as you go

Plans can be paused, skipped or resized. Because fresh delivery is subscription-only with no in-store top-up, keep a small buffer so you never run out mid-week.

Details vary by brand and plan. Scratch and Petzyo run subscription delivery too, with kibble shipped ambient and only the raw lines frozen; Frontier Pets and ZIWI Peak are shelf-stable, and Prime100 rolls sit in the pet store fridge.

How we chose

Rankings on this page follow our published scores; nothing is reordered for commercial reasons. Every brand is scored out of 100 against the same six weighted criteria, using publicly available product, pricing and labelling information rather than lab testing. Fresh formats get no free pass on price: value is weighted like everything else, which is why the priciest options do not automatically finish first.

Price & Value · 25 ptsIngredient Quality · 25 ptsNutrition & Suitability · 20 ptsTransparency · 15 ptsAvailability & Convenience · 10 ptsCustomer Sentiment · 5 pts
Read the full methodology

Fresh dog food FAQs

Not universally. Fresh food scores higher in our index on ingredient quality, processing and transparency, and many owners of fussy or sensitive dogs prefer it. A complete and balanced kibble remains a legitimate everyday choice with different trade-offs: it costs less per day, keeps longer and is easier to buy. Our fresh vs kibble guide walks through the comparison in detail. Not veterinary advice.

At our editorial 15kg adult benchmark, Lyka works out at roughly $2.68-$2.98 a day. Real pricing is personalised: it scales with your dog's weight, age and recipe, so small dogs cost less per day and large dogs cost more. All figures on this page are editorial estimates, so confirm current pricing with each brand before you commit.

Lyka is the only true gently cooked fresh subscription in our current index, which is why it wins this category at 87/100. The closest alternatives work in different formats: Scratch delivers subscription kibble with a frozen raw line, Petzyo pairs kibble with raw BARF patties, Frontier Pets and ZIWI Peak are air-dried, and Prime100 sells chilled single-protein rolls through pet stores.

Change over gradually across 7-10 days, mixing a growing share of the new food into the old so digestion can adjust. Follow the brand's feeding guide for your dog's weight, and speak to your vet first if your dog is a puppy, a senior or has a health condition. This is general information, not veterinary advice.

Fresh subscriptions like Lyka deliver meals frozen in insulated packaging. You store the box in the freezer, move the next day or two of meals to the fridge to thaw, and serve to the feeding guide. Plan for dedicated freezer space, especially for larger dogs on bigger plans.

Check for a clear complete and balanced statement against AAFCO or an equivalent standard before choosing any food, fresh included. Lyka's recipes are formulated complete and balanced for all life stages. Home-cooked meals without a formulated recipe are where balance most often falls short.

Want the full format breakdown, including where kibble genuinely wins? Read our fresh vs kibble guide.

General information only. This guide is an independent editorial comparison, not veterinary advice. All prices are editorial estimates at a ~15kg adult benchmark and change often, so confirm current pricing with each brand before buying. Speak to your vet before changing your dog's diet, especially for puppies, seniors or dogs with health conditions.

Keep reading

Lyka deep dives

Ranked alternatives

50% off your first box at Lyka

Affiliate link · scored 87/100

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