Which Fresh Brand Is Best For Your Pup?
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With the growing market of fresh dog food delivery, it can be hard to decide which brand is the best fit for your pup’s dietary needs and your budget. We’ve researched and tested out two of your top options, JustFoodForDogs vs The Farmer’s Dog, to give you an in-depth comparison. See how these two brands stack up against each other to help you make the best choice for your furry friend.
Visit The Farmer’s Dog Website | Visit JustFoodForDogs’ Website
Meal & Treat Variety
Both brands offer fresh, human-grade dog food that they ship frozen right to your door. The Farmer’s Dog has four recipes to choose from, beef, chicken, pork, and turkey, and they’re customized to meet the AAFCO’s nutritional guidelines for all life stages. Unfortunately, the Farmer’s Dog doesn’t offer any grain-inclusive options, but they do have chicken apple treats you can add to your recurring order.
JustFoodForDogs (JFFD) has an impressive menu, with nearly a dozen fresh recipes featuring grain-free and grain-inclusive formulas and more protein choices than The Farmer’s Dog, such as fish, lamb, and venison. However, only two of their fresh recipes are suitable for puppies. JFFD also has two other high-quality dog food lines: Pantry Fresh shelf-stable dog food and vet-prescribed diets for dogs with such conditions as diabetes and kidney and liver problems. Finally, JFFD carries a variety of dog treats, supplements, and DIY nutrient blends.
Winner: Meal & Treat Variety
Nutritional Value
Both The Farmer’s Dog and JustFoodForDogs use all-natural, limited ingredients that are 100% USDA-certified for human consumption. Formulated by veterinary nutritionists, all recipes are also cooked in USDA-certified and inspected kitchens. All of The Farmer’s Dog recipes meet AAFCO guidelines for a complete and balanced diet for all life stages. JFFD offers a few meals that meet AAFCO standards for all life stages, while the majority meet AAFCO guidelines for adult maintenance. Protein, fat, fiber, and carbohydrate levels, as well as caloric content, are very similar with both brands.
The Farmer’s Dog adds fresh vegetables, salmon oil, and essential vitamins and minerals to all four recipes. Every meal contains only a single protein, and their chicken and beef recipes also contain organ meat. Although they vary by recipe, other nutritious ingredients include kale, spinach, sweet potatoes, chickpeas, carrots, chia seeds, and more. Although all of The Farmer’s Dog recipes are grain-free, you can mix in some cooked rice or grain-inclusive kibble if grains are important to your dog’s diet.
JustFoodForDogs takes a similar healthy approach to their Fresh Frozen, Pantry Fresh, and Veterinary Support meals. Formulas include high-quality animal protein as the first ingredient, fresh veggies, and a blend of essential vitamins and minerals. Many also include organ meats, fish oil, fresh fruits, and taurine, which help support heart and eye health.
In addition to the nutritious, vet-formulated ingredients, you can also feel good about giving your pup either brand’s meals because they contain no meat by-products, fillers, preservatives, or artificial ingredients.
Winner: Nutritional Value
Customization
A subscription-based service, The Farmer’s Dog has an online dog profile that you fill out so they can personalize your pup’s meals and portions based on your dog’s breed, gender, age, activity level, current weight, and body condition (which indicates if your pup is underweight, ideal, or overweight). Their questionnaire also allows you to indicate if your furry friend has any health issues (allergies, gluten or grain insensitivity, ear infections, digestive issues, arthritis, etc.).
While you can search JustFoodForDog’s website for ideal recipes by life stage and specific health needs, they only offer personalized fresh dog food for a $250 formulation fee. But their site does have a feeding calculator that helps you figure out how much food to buy and how much to feed your dog each day based on his age, weight, and activity level.
It’s also important to note that The Farmer’s Dog ships your food in pre-portioned packaging, which makes mealtime a breeze. There’s no need to measure out food and store unused food for later. JFFD doesn’t offer this convenient feature.
Winner: Customization
Pricing
The Farmer’s Dog’s meals start at $2 per day, and JustFoodForDogs starts at around $1.36 per day. However, both companies base their pricing on how much food your dog needs and on the recipes you choose. They determine this by the profile you fill out for your pup on The Farmer’s Dog or the feeding calculator on JFFD.
The Farmer’s Dog requires a subscription, which you can cancel anytime, and all shipping is free. JFFD gives you the option of making a one-time purchase or signing up for auto-shipping, which saves you 5% off recurring orders and gives you free shipping.
To get the best pricing comparison, we ran several quotes. All were for a two-year-old mixed-breed dog at an ideal weight and normal activity level. These are also for each company’s chicken recipe.
| Dog’s Weight | JFFD | The Farmer’s Dog |
|---|---|---|
| 10 pounds | $19.39/week | $23.94/week |
| 40 pounds | $54.04/week | $50.47/week |
| 60 pounds | $59.50/week | $59.57/week |
As you can see, the pricing varies between both companies, with overall comparable results. We suggest you run quotes for your dog to see which is the less expensive option.
Coupons
The Farmer’s Dog: Our readers have access to 50% off your first box. No code is needed; use this link, and the discount will be applied. You can also visit our dedicated The Farmer’s Dog coupons page.
JustFoodForDogs: Get 35% off your first order at JustFoodForDogs. Just use this link to get started.
Customer Service & Reputation
Both companies have overall solid reputations for producing high-quality food. Founded in 2010, JustFoodForDogs was one of the first brands to offer fresh dog food. And in a 2019 survey, JFFD was named the #1 vet-recommended fresh pet food. The Farmer’s Dog has thousands of faithful customers since its launch in 2015. The Farmer’s Dog has never been recalled, but JustFoodForDogs recalled some batches of its food in 2018 for listeria contamination.
Regarding customer service, both companies offer support seven days a week: The Farmer’s Dog through phone and email, and JFFD via live chat, phone, and email. We’ve scoured the web for online reviews for both companies. A majority of reviews are positive for both companies, but we’ve seen more complaints about unhelpful customer service, billing problems, and food quality with JustFoodForDogs vs The Farmer’s Dog.
Winner: Customer Service & Reputation
Our Personal Experience With The Farmer’s Dog & JFFD
Members of our team have experience with both of these top brands. Here are some of their first-hand reviews.
Our dog Lexie LOVES The Farmer’s Dog! She gobbles it down fast and has had much more consistent bowel movements since switching. She’s also lost and maintained a much healthier weight since switching from kibble (and her coat is noticeably more shiny and healthy).
–Sadie Cornelius, Cavalier King Charles Spaniel parent
When we take our dogs on vacation, JustFoodForDogs is the most convenient way to supplement our dogs’ meals with some human-grade real food on top of the more processed kibble. Our dogs love the taste and it keeps them coming back for more meal after meal. Plus, the small, shelf-stable packages are easy to pack in the car without taking up valuable cooler space!
–Michelle Schenker, Canine Journal Co-Founder & Rescue Mixed Breed parent
What’s Our Final Verdict?
Both of these companies are excellent healthy options for your pup, but ultimately, it comes down to your individual needs. JustFoodForDogs could be a better option if you want grain-inclusive dog food, novel protein meals, or specialized diets for some health conditions.
Winner: Overall
If you didn’t find exactly what you were looking for in this comparison, we’ve dug deeper into these brands with individual reviews of The Farmer’s Dog and JustFoodForDogs. And see how The Farmer’s Dog and JustFoodForDogs compare to other top-rated fresh dog food delivery services as well as the best human-grade dog food.
Tagged With: Comparison, Food Delivery
