Royal Canin

Royal Canin is owned by Mars Petcare, the only Mars-owned label among the 20 brands we score, and its country of manufacture reads France / Multiple rather than the Australian production behind most of the index. It is also one of only two brands here, with Hill's Science Diet, whose formats include prescription alongside dry and wet. That mix explains an availability score of 80 out of 100, behind only Black Hawk on 83 and level with Leaps & Bounds on 80, across the five specialist stockists on its brand record: Pet Circle, Petbarn, Petstock, Budget Pet Products and PETO.

Transparency lands at 66 out of 100, mid-table rather than weak: ownership and formats are clear, but the manufacturing line covers several countries rather than one named site, and the everyday panels name cereals before meat. Royal Canin Medium Adult 15kg lists maize / rice (cereals) first, at 25 per cent protein and 14 per cent fat, and the Gastrointestinal vet diet lists cereals / rice first at 23 per cent protein. Both are indexed at 15kg.

The Medium Adult 15kg bag is an editorial estimate of $159 AUD, or $10.60 per kg and about $2.60 a day for a 15kg adult dog. Black Hawk's Grain Free Adult Chicken 15kg lands at exactly the same $10.60 per kg on our estimates, but lists chicken first, declares 30 per cent protein, and the bag rates 84 out of 100 against Royal Canin's 78. Same bag size, same cost per kg, different panel.

That is the maths behind a value score of 54 out of 100, the fourth lowest of the 20 brands we rate: only Hill's Science Diet on 52, and the supermarket labels Baxter's and Black & Gold on 53 apiece, sit below it. Royal Canin's value pillar also scores under Aldi's Julius and Coles' Woofin' Good, each on 57. Ingredient quality, weighted at 25 of the 100 points, returns 60.

The case for Royal Canin is the therapeutic range. Nutrition and suitability, weighted at 20 points, returns 78 out of 100, which clears its vet-shelf rival Hill's Science Diet on 77 without reaching the fresh and air-dried brands at the top of that pillar, and the Gastrointestinal vet diet 15kg rates 80, the higher of its two indexed products. At an estimated $219, or $14.60 per kg and about $3.60 a day, that bag is bought on a vet's instruction rather than on price. This is not veterinary advice.

Skip it if you are feeding a healthy adult dog and you judge food on named meat first. Black Hawk's Adult Chicken & Rice 20kg estimates at $8.45 per kg and about $2.10 a day, roughly 50 cents a day under the Royal Canin bag, or near $180 a year for one dog, with chicken first and 26 per cent protein. If you stay, work the spread: the same 15kg bag runs $144 on Pet Circle autoship and $175 at Petbarn before member pricing.