Who Is Bella & Duke?

In 2021 raw feeding is more popular than it ever was and is gaining more and more traction within the dog food industry. This is reflected in the rise of the amount of companies offering premade raw foods, some which work on a subscription basis, meaning there is money to be made. One of these companies is Bella & Duke which has had more success (partly because they are more well-known) than their competitors as they claim to be the leading pet food subscription company in the UK. Based in Perthshire, Bella & Duke are a team of passionate dog owners who create tailor-made meal plans for your dog. Their aim is provide dog owners with a very high quality raw food focusing on excellent ingredients, nutritional balance and freshness that is, in their words, 100% nutritious.

What Is Premade Raw Food?

For those dog owners who’ve heard about the benefits of raw food but can’t prepare a raw diet at home can really benefit from premade raw. Time-constraints, concerns over providing the all-important balance in the meals, not wanting to handle and prepare raw meat and organs (for those vegetarians and vegans, us included😁), lack of freezer space etc the list can go on. A premade raw food will take out all of the guesswork concerning correct nutritional balance and save time when you want to feed your dog a raw diet. And it’s delivered straight to your door! We started Mikki’s raw feeding journey on a premade raw and we are very happy with this method of feeding so far. Just like commercial dog foods however there are different standards of quality in premade raw foods as well as different proteins and nutrients, pricing and packaging. To do the best we can for Mikki’s health and to equip our readers with the knowledge of what’s available, we believe it’s our duty to search for the best premade raw options we can🙂.

A High Quality Raw Dog Food

Bella & Duke says they speak with scientists, vets and consults the latest research to bring the very best in nutrition to their raw food. Their premade raw meals are made according to the BARF model which is 80% muscle meat, bone and organ and 20% nutritious carbohydrate i.e. vegetables and fruits. This is an agreed upon and most popular model of raw feeding where a dog is getting everything he needs based on how his evolutionary biology. Their meals are comprised of an impressive list of ingredients and is free from any fillers, additives, gluten and grains. An important point is that they offer a wide variety of different proteins in their food with most recipes containing more than one protein e.g. white fish recipe also contains beef and turkey, and this helps reduce protein intolerances, sensitivities and allergies. This is great to hear as many dogs suffer from protein-specific intolerances.

Bella & Duke’s Ordering Process And Pricing

To get started Bella & Duke will ask for details about your Min Pin’s stats (weight, activity levels) and whether he has behavioural problems or health issues. You will be asked how experienced you are as a raw feeder and if you indicate your new, they will based on that answer, recommend the recipe range best suited to your dog and in Mikki’s case, this was their Adult Premium range. In hindsight we could have selected ‘experienced’ and been able to choose from any of their ranges. Note that at this stage you can delete the recipes you don’t want for the first order. Bella & Duke will also work out how much you should feed per day and the daily feeding cost based on the box you choose. Boxes range for 4kg, 8kg, 12kg, 16kg and 20kg and are priced including delivery. Unlike many other premade raw companies Bella & Duke are a subscription-based service.

This means you sign up for the first box and you and your dog’s details and your payment methods are saved however if you want to cancel the subscription, you can do so anytime in your membership dashboard, without having your first order affected. For a 5kg Min Pin (the weight we use to work out dog food costs on our feeding page) with average body type and activity levels, Bella & Duke recommend 200g per day (see below for more). But using our mathematical feeding equation based on 2% of the dogs weight which brings us 110g per day, that works out at £0.92 per day if the 4kg box at £32.99, which should last 36 days, is selected. That’s about £27.43 per month. Meals come in half kg packs which is great because they are easier to store in our freezer. Some other companies only sell their meals in 1kg packs.

How Did Mikki Do With His Bella And Duke Raw Meals?

Mikki had no qualms when it came to eating his Bella & Duke raw meals. He wolfed them down🤤. His poo was solid and firm as well but that is also partly because he’d been on raw food for more than 2 months and his system had finally calmed down.

The quality of Bella & Duke raw food is visible. As shown above you can actually see the vegetables mixed in with the meat. Bella & Duke use cruciferous vegetables in their foods like kale and cabbage as well as high antioxidant-containing fruits such as blueberries, the latter which were also visible (see the black bits😁). All the vegetables and fruits used in their recipes are raw therefore in the best and most nutritious form for your dog to consume them in. Herring oil and pure olive oil is also added. All ingredients Bella & Duke use in their recipe ranges have a purpose specific to the range which equates to the food, as they put it, being 100% nutritious.

What We Weren’t Keen On

Before we tried Bella & Duke we had tried a different brand so we have something to compare their food and service to. We found Bella & Duke to be expensive overall in comparison to several popular premade raw companies with their Adult Premium recipes working out at around £8.24 per kg. Now although this is an average cost per kg from other popular premade raw companies for some of their recipes i.e. more expensive proteins, they also have a lower price point for many of their other recipes.

With Bella & Duke you are not given an option to choose the most affordable recipes as they all come in a box and are the same price regardless of the recipe. Bella & Duke still work out more expensive than other companies even when delivery costs are accounted for. Bella & Duke give you an option to choose the weight of the boxes as stated above and you cannot add or subtract kgs from them. This system of theirs means they don’t go by a monthly cost instead it will be based on how quickly your dog will go through the box weight. Other premade raw companies we’ve looked at allow you to choose the amount of kgs for your order as well as half kg packs. This is easier if you would rather buy the exact number of kgs you need per month so you can work out a monthly cost. Being able to have freedom on choosing number of kgs can make things easier if you have limited frozen storage. Bella & Duke system works based on the fact that they’re a subscription service and providing you continue it, it’s easy to work out monthly costs when you need readjust your Min Pin’s feeding amounts for the different seasons.

Something else we found baffling concerned Bella & Duke’s recommended feeding amounts. Mikki at 6.5kg for the winter months is fed 3% of his body weight which equates to 195g however they recommend 210g after body condition and activity levels were accounted for. Even when we used our 5kg Min Pin weight to calculate monthly feeding costs which should be 150g, Bella & Duke gave us 200g. We’re not sure why there’s a disparity in feeding amounts but overtime feeding a dog more than 3% of their body weight can result in your Min Pin putting on unnecessary weight especially if they are neutered.

Finally, we didn’t appreciate one bit the packaging that the meals came in. Bella & Duke’s packaging had been white tubs that had an actual lid so you can portion out your food and pop it back in the fridge, then throw away, until earlier this year. They now provide a clear packaging (more like trays) that you immediately have to throw away once opened due to them having no replaceable lid. They include 1 white tub in your order they call a ‘fridge pack’ for you to transfer the food from the clear pack. Doing this transfer every 3 days wasn’t just a nuisance (added work because you have to wash your hands each time you touch raw meat) but as we’re vegetarian, we really don’t appreciate having to handle the food. Not handling meat is meant to be a massive advantage of premade raw (sorry Bella & Duke)!

Environmentally Friendly

Despite the teething problems for us we understand that the new packaging design is part of Bella & Duke’s move towards greater sustainability which is fabulous of course🥰. You can read more about this here. We are very much for ensuring brands do their bit for the planet and this makes the brand a good option if environmentally friendly packaging is important to you and you don’t mind handling raw meat.

Our Thoughts

Bella & Duke is amongst the highest quality premade raw dog food on the market. This means that it comes with a premium price tag compared to other companies but for that price, you are getting a convenient subscription service that will make timely deliveries according to your chosen box size. You don’t need to remember to make an order whenever your Min Pin’s food stock is running low which is great if your busy (or forgetful🙄). Despite the drawbacks for us, we recommend that you give it a try. We’ve provided you with a discount code which will give you 50% off your first box! And who doesn’t love a discount, eh?

Discount Code:

4c53085