Many of the largest manufacturers of pet food in the US have entered the fresh dog food category. Five traditional pet food (kibble) manufacturers have jumped on the fresh pet food band wagon. Only one of the ‘fresh’ options are human grade.
These traditional pet food manufacturers do not manufacture a fresh cat food line.
Note: FDA and/or AAFCO has not defined fresh pet food. Without a legal definition of the term, there is no legal standard that pet food manufacturers must meet. At this point, ‘fresh’ can be frozen, refrigerated, shelf stable, cooked, raw or more processed styles.
All prices are estimated based on manufacturer or retailer feeding directions.
Mars Petcare offers fresh dog food with three of it’s brands; NomNom, Royal Canin, and Orijen.
NomNom
Mars Petcare purchased the brand NomNom in 2022. The pet food does not make human grade claims, does not claim any meats are sourced from certified humanely raised animals, and does not claim to include any organic ingredients.
The cost to feed a 30 pound dog:
Royal Canin
Mars Petcare’s Royal Canin brand offers fresh dog food options named “Fresh Health Nutrition”. The dog food does not make human grade claims, does not claim any meats are sourced from certified humanely raised animals, and does not claim to include any organic ingredients.
The cost to feed a 30 pound dog:
Orijen
Mars Petcare purchased Champion Pet Foods (Orijen & Acana) in 2022. Orijen manufactures a fresh dog food named “Fresh Prey”. This dog food does make the human grade claim on the label, but does not claim to include meats sourced from certified humanely raised animals or organic ingredients.
The cost to feed a 30 pound dog:
Wellness Pet Food
Wellness Pet Food offers a line of fresh dog foods named “Protein Bowls”. The dog food does not make human grade claims, does not claim any meats are sourced from certified humanely raised animals, and does not claim to include any organic ingredients.
The cost to feed a 30 pound dog:
Blue Buffalo
Blue Buffalo pet food manufactures a line of fresh dog foods named “Love Made Fresh”. The dog food does not make human grade claims, does not claim any meats are sourced from certified humanely raised animals, and does not claim to include any organic ingredients.
The cost to feed a 30 pound dog:
Hill’s Science Diet
Science Diet produces a fresh dog food named “Fresh Roll” dog food. The dog food does not make human grade claims, does not claim any meats are sourced from certified humanely raised animals, and does not claim to include any organic ingredients.
The cost to feed a 30 pound dog:
Fromm Pet Food
Fromm Pet Foods Bonnihill Farms brand offers a fresh pet food named “Chickibowls” available in a bag or roll (roll similar to Science Diet above). The dog food does not make human grade claims, does not claim any meats are sourced from certified humanely raised animals, and does not claim to include any organic ingredients.
The cost to feed a 30 pound dog:
To feed a 30 pound dog – prices of Big Pet Food brands of fresh pet foods range from:
$6.50 a day to $17.28 a day.
Why the huge price difference in these brands?
Looking at the traditional fresh pet food options of NomNom, Royal Canin, Orijen, Wellness and Blue Buffalo – the price to feed a 30 pound dog ranges from:
$8.40 to $17.28 a day.
All of these pet foods are manufactured similarly, with the exception of Orijen which is manufactured in a licensed human food facility (and not the most expensive brand). Why is the highest priced pet food (Royal Canin) almost twice the price of the lowest priced dog food (Blue Buffalo) when they are both feed grade and manufactured similarly?
Looking at the fresh pet food rolls made by Hill’s and Fromm, the price to feed a 30 pound dog ranges from:
$6.50 to $14.27 a day.
Both of these pet foods are manufactured similarly, both are feed grade. Why is the Fromm pet food more than double the cost of the Hill’s dog food?
We have to wonder what games these traditional pet food manufacturers (kibble pet food manufacturers) are playing with their prices. Are they experimenting with price to see what pet owners will pay for their fresh options? As example, we reported on the Mars Petcare Orijen pet food in March 2026 when it was first introduced. Since March, Petco has reduced the price of the food by $2.00 per pouch.
Are some trying to drive the price of fresh pet food up to prevent more pet owners from affording this option, making many pet owners believe they cannot afford fresh pet food (pushing pet owners back to traditional kibble)?
Regardless if traditional pet food manufacturers are playing pricing games, they have embraced fresh pet food. We should expect to see more in the near future.
Susan Thixton
Pet Food Consumer Advocate
TruthaboutPetFood.com
Association for Truth in Pet Food
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