# Freshpet

- Source: https://stierproducts.com/products/freshpet
- Category board: https://stierproducts.com/categories/dog-food
- Placement: #10 of 12 in Dog Food, F tier
- Brand: Freshpet
- LP on this board: 92
- Last researched: 2026-09-22T17:17:19.643Z
- Method: https://stierproducts.com/methodology
- Dataset: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22062813 - every board at once, one dated snapshot per release, same licence, prices and photographs left out
- Reuse: Text, rankings, tier assignments, LP values and verdicts are free to quote and reuse with attribution to stierproducts and a link to the source URL (CC BY 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Product photographs are not covered: they belong to their respective owners and are reproduced to illustrate the product being reviewed. Do not redistribute them under this licence.

## Verdict

The best of the traps, real meat and real convenience, but the evidence says its fresh-food claims outrun the data and the refrigerated format adds ownership risk. Choose JustFoodForDogs for fresh feeding with substance.

## For

- Real refrigerated fresh food
- Sold in grocery cases, no delivery subscription needed
- A fraction of what fresh delivery services charge
- Listed among affordable dog foods that are still high quality
- Suggested by owners as an accessible way to upgrade a kibble diet

## Against

- peer-reviewed analysis found fresh pet food claims may lack evidence
- owner reports of serious digestive incidents
- refrigerated fresh format adds ownership risk
- Owner-reported health incident associated with the brand
- Not included in expert-vetted fresh-food rankings

## Flagged as one to avoid

This product entered 8 of 12 runs as one buyers cross-shop but should not buy, rather than as a pick. It is published here rather than dropped.

## Evidence

Consolidated from 4 independent outlets

| Outlet | Said by | Stance | Link | Link status |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Forbes Vetted | - | - | https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbes-personal-shopper/article/best-fresh-dog-food/ | not checked |
| PetBux | - | - | https://petbux.com/blog/best-affordable-dog-foods-that-are-still-high-quality | not checked |
| r/OpenDogTraining | - | - | https://www.reddit.com/r/OpenDogTraining/comments/1r6jrkv/most_affordable_fresh_dog_food_options_in_the_us/ | not checked |
| r/Pets | - | - | https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/1sfu4fb/does_pet_food_actually_make_a_difference_or_am_i/ | not checked |

## Nearest alternatives on this board

| Rank | Product | Tier | Page |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | Hill's Science Diet Adult | S | https://stierproducts.com/products/hill-s-science-diet-adult |
| 2 | Royal Canin Small Breed Adult Dry Dog Food | A | https://stierproducts.com/products/royal-canin-small-breed-adult-dry-dog-food |
| 3 | JustFoodForDogs | B | https://stierproducts.com/products/justfoodfordogs |
| 5 | Nutro Ultra Dry Dog Food | C | https://stierproducts.com/products/nutro-ultra-dry-dog-food |
| 6 | We Feed Raw | D | https://stierproducts.com/products/we-feed-raw |
| 7 | Spot & Tango UnKibble | D | https://stierproducts.com/products/spot-tango-unkibble |
| 8 | Blue Buffalo Life Protection Formula | D | https://stierproducts.com/products/blue-buffalo-life-protection-formula |
| 9 | Sundays for Dogs | F | https://stierproducts.com/products/sundays-for-dogs |
| 11 | The Farmer's Dog | F | https://stierproducts.com/products/the-farmer-s-dog |
| 12 | PetPlate | F | https://stierproducts.com/products/petplate |

The full board is at https://stierproducts.com/categories/dog-food.

## What this tier means

- F: Avoid. The evidence points you elsewhere.

## How to read this

- Each category is researched in four independent runs, one per lens (expert consensus, value, reliability, community pulse). Every run ranks a board of candidates that deliberately includes products buyers cross-shop but should avoid. Placements score on a ranked ladder (LP), and tiers are derived from LP, so no tier is ever assigned by hand.
- LP is this product's points on its own category ladder. It is comparable within a category and not across categories.
- Link status reports what our pre-publication link check found when it fetched the cited URL. It says nothing about the quality of the review.
- A citation with no usable link is listed rather than dropped, and is excluded from the counted total above.

## Image

https://stspimgdevmfyk46r5vwkay.blob.core.windows.net/images/products/freshpet.webp

Product photographs are not covered: they belong to their respective owners and are reproduced to illustrate the product being reviewed. Do not redistribute them under this licence.