Introduction of Blue Buffalo

• Blue Buffalo History

Blue Buffalo is a very big brand in the pet food market, and they were established back in 2003 in Connecticut by the Bishop family. In fact, it’s gone from being a small, independent operation to being purchased by General Mills for billions of dollars in 2018.

The company got started thanks to a dog named Blue. The Bishop family adopted a young pup by the name of Blue, who was their loyal companion for many years until one fateful day that changed the course of their lives.Blue was diagnosed with cancer.After heroically battling the illness, Blue died, but the family never forgot their loyal pet and decided to create better dog food. They worked with veterinarians and nutrition experts to come up with natural formulas with complete and balanced nutrition.Blue Buffalo was the result. The food Bishop created was so high quality, it quickly became in demand by owners in similar situations. Word of mouth quickly spread, and in less than twenty years, the brand went from inception to becoming the top natural pet food brand in America.Despite being a relatively young company, Blue Buffalo has quickly carved out a name for itself as one of the premier manufacturers of high-end pet food.

• Blue Buffalo Dog Food Review

Blue Buffalo follows very strict health and safety standards to ensure that their pet food products provide animals with clean and natural source food that fits their natural diet as close as possible.

Blue Buffalo has several different lines of dog food and produces recipes for all life stages and special diets. You can find both dry and wet dog food with formulas that help with common health concerns, such as food allergies and weight management. Blue Buffalo also has a veterinary diet line that offers prescription food for dogs with more acute conditions and chronic illnesses.All recipes feature real meat as the main ingredient, with no filler or poultry by-products used. All formulas meet AAFCO nutrient profiles for dogs. Plus, the brand provides detailed accessibility to the ingredients that they use. And finally, most of the brand’s products are available and highly rated on online platforms like Amazon and Chewy.

Blue Buffalo makes high-quality food, but it doesn’t come cheap. You can expect to pay more for its foods than you would for many other common brands, but the superior nutrition is often worth it. Be careful, though, as the company doesn’t have the most stellar recall history.

Blue Buffalo Dog Food Recalls

Blue Buffalo has been recalled 7 times:

April 2007: Rice protein was contaminated with melamine

October 2010: elevated levels of Vitamin D

November 2015: Potential Salmonella contamination with chew bones

May 2016: excessive moisture and mold

February 2017: aluminum contamination

March 2017:  issue with the foil packaging

March 2017: elevated levels of the naturally occurring hormone

In 2014 Purina filed a claim against Blue Buffalo for false advertising. They discovered poultry by-product meal ingredients in their recipes, despite Blue Buffalo claiming to never to use by-products. After investigation Blue Buffalo admitted that this was true, blaming their supplier, and they corrected the issues.

Blue Buffalo Dog Food Pros and Cons

Best Blue Buffalo Dog Food

Best Overall: Blue Buffalo Life Protection Formula Natural Dog Food

Best Value: Blue Buffalo Homestyle Recipe Beef Dinner

Premium Choice: Blue Buffalo Blue Wilderness Natural Dog Food Salmon Recipe

Best For sensitive Stomach: Blue Buffalo Blue Basics Skin & Stomach Care Natural Dog Food

Best for Small Dogs: Blue Buffalo True Solutions Small & Mighty

Best Vet-Formulated Dog Food: Blue Buffalo Natural Veterinary Diet Dog Food

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Factors to Consider When Searching A Blue Buffalo Alternative

Price

Price is the most important factor for most who are looking for an alternative to Blue Buffalo. You may want to upgrad or switch to a cheaper brand.

Blue Buffalo dry dog food recipes typically cost between $45 - $75,depending on the size and variety, while wet food costs roughly $2-$3 a can. 

Availability

You should check if the brand is available from multiple sources, such as at a local pet food store and online from pet food websites like Chewy.

 If you are switching because you can’t get your existing recipe reliably or it’s sold out, switching to another, which is difficult to get your hands on.This is a bad idea.

Nutrition

Blue Buffalo dry dog food recipes typically have between 20-30% protein and 12-15% fat,however, there are some recipes that fall outside of this range.

When choosing an alternative, you may want to find a recipe that has a protein and fat proportion that is within this range or within 5% of your dog’s previous recipe.

Ingredients

Many dogs have a poor reaction to new ingredients, and that is something you’ll want to avoid if possible.Blue Buffalo dog food recipes typically use meat ingredients like Chicken, Chicken Meal, Lamb, Salmon, and Turkey.They also make heavy use of plant-based ingredients like Brown Rice, Barley, Oatmeal, Peas, and Flaxseed. You are unlikely to be able to find an alternative dog food recipe with the exact same ingredient list, but instead, you may want to aim for most of the first five ingredients to be the same.

Alternatives to Blue Buffalo Dog Food

1.Diamond Naturals

Diamond Naturals is one collection of recipes from the large line of products by the Diamond Pet Foods company. Diamond Dog Food is a family-owned pet food company. It was founded in 1970, and today it is one of the market‘s leaders in producing dog and cat food.Diamond Dog Food makes their products in the USA, and each ingredient is locally farmed and sourced. They run thousands of weekly tests on their products to ensure safety and quality. The Naturals line is a moderately above average product group, but does not rate with the best premium brands.

Diamond Naturals Dog Food has a wide range of different recipes to choose from, including limited ingredients and grain-free diets.The recipes typically contain a range of grain ingredients, some of which are similar to Blue Buffalo. Examples of these grain ingredients include Brown Rice, White Rice, Barley, and Sorghum.The signature of the Naturals formulations is the inclusion of many ingredients not commonly found in lesser-grade dog food, including berries, fruits, and vegetables.They typically have a protein proportion between 22%-27% and a fat proportion between 12%-16%. This is extremely similar to Blue Buffalo recipes which is promising for those considering Diamond Naturals.

Diamond is priced very competitively and is most cost-effective than Blue Buffalo. It is typical to see most Diamond Naturals recipes being sold in 40lb pounds which is far larger than most brands.One of these 40lb bags of dry dog food can set you back between $40-$45, depending on your retailer of choice. This works out to be roughly $1 per pound of dry dog food which is extremely impressive.You can buy Naturals from some physical stores like Petco and Tractor Supply Company.On the online front, Diamond Naturals are widely available to purchase from popular online pet food sellers like Amazon, Chewy, Petco and Petflow.

Diamond Naturals Chicken & Rice Dry Dog Food

Price: $46.99 for 40 lbs

There are several affordable options for high-quality dog food comparable to Blue Buffalo. And Diamond Naturals Chicken & Rice All Life Stages Dog Food is one of the best alternatives overall.It is an affordable alternative to Blue Buffalo Life Protection Formulas. This recipe provides comprehensive nutritional support suitable for a wide variety of dogs.This dry dog food recipe is suitable for dogs from all life stages and is made with real cage-free chicken as the first ingredient and real fruits and vegetables including kale, blueberries and coconut! It provides your furry friend with protein and minerals, along with omega fatty acids to help promote healthy skin and a shiny coat, plus antioxidants for overall nose-to-tail well-being. 

With 26% protein, 16% fat and added superfoods, All Life Stages Dog Chicken & Rice Formula supplies the energy and muscle building blocks your dog needs to stay active and strong. Blue Buffalo Chicken & Rice Life Protection Formula has a very similar 24% protein content from chicken.Made without corn and wheat, this grain-inclusive kibble is formulated to contain all of the healthy ingredients you’d want while keeping out the stuff you’d rather not feed your dog, like artificial flavors, color, and preservatives.

2.Taste of the Wild

Taste of the Wild is one of the fastest-growing pet food brands in the world. It is extremely similar to Blue Buffalo. Taste of the Wild provides a number of grain-free formulas made with real roasted meat. Each of their formulas are meant to be in line with your pet’s ancestral diet, and also has healthy probiotics added into the mix to aid in digestion, support the immune system, and contribute to the overall wellbeing of your dog.All of its foods are manufactured in the USA and are billed as being affordable and using high-quality ingredients. As well as using real meat, fish, or fowl as their primary ingredient, the brand’s recipes also include unique proteins from boar, bison, duck, trout, and venison.On the plant-based side, Taste of the Wild more heavily relies on legumes and starches like Peas, Lentils, Potatoes, and Sweet Potatoes than Blue Buffalo, but they do have some grain-inclusive recipes that use grains like Barley, Sorghum, and Millet. And the protein levels in their recipes varied from 25-32%, and the fat levels in their recipes varied from 15-18%.It is likely to be an improvement on Blue Buffalo with slightly higher protein and fat proportions.

Taste of the Wild is priced very similarly to Blue Buffalo, with a recipe typically costing between $45-$55 for a 28 lb-pound bag of dry dog food.This works out to be roughly $1.75-$2 per pound of dry dog food which is probably just below most similar Blue Buffalo recipes.Taste of the Wild is also extremely easy to purchase from physical retail pet stores across the United States or website such as Chewy,Petco etc.

Taste of the Wild High Prairie Grain-Free Dry Dog Food

Price: $19.99 - $58.99

Taste of the Wild High Prairie Grain-Free Dog Food is the best alternative to Blue Buffalo Wilderness formulas.This recipe uses several different animal proteins to offer a high crude protein content of 32%.Formulated with novel proteins including buffalo and bison, this grain-free recipe includes peas and sweet potatoes that deliver the highly-digestible energy your active pup needs, along with natural antioxidant support from real fruits and vegetables and dried chicory root for prebiotic support and healthy digestion. Essential minerals are chelated with amino acids to optimize their absorption and ensure maximum benefit, for complete and balanced nutrition with a taste of the wild your furry friend constantly craves!

Taste of the Wild’s 18% crude fat content is slightly more than Blue Buffalo Wilderness.It also features a canine-specific probiotic blend to provide more digestive support than Blue Buffalo.Both formulas are grain-free and exclude corn, wheat, and soy. 

3.American Journey

Having been established in April of 2017, American Journey is a new player among the giants of the dog food industry. This brand of dry dog food is owned by Chewy, the popular online pet supply retailer, and is sold almost exclusively through the company’s website.Since Chewy cuts out the middleman, the company is able to produce and sell its own products at a competitive price. Despite containing high-quality ingredients, these formulas are often significantly less expensive than the competition.American Journey dog food recipes are competitively priced, and a 28lb or 24lb bag of dry food can be typically purchased for between $40-$50, depending on the recipe type.

With dry and wet recipes for cats and dogs, the brand focuses on deboned protein with no corn, wheat, or soy. American Journey offers a wide range of products including limited ingredient dog food, grain-free dry cat food, dog treats, and more.All American Journey recipes are created, developed and overseen by Chewy and their production partner teams.They have food that caters to all three life stages: puppy, adult, and senior. This is excellent because each life stage has different needs.

American Journey uses a large range of high-quality meat and fish ingredients in their recipes, many of which are shared with Blue Buffalo,such as Salmon, Chicken, Chicken Meal, Turkey Meal, Lamb, and Beef.And,these recipes are generally high in protein, but the protein content of individual dog and cat recipes will vary. For plant-based ingredients, American Journey offers a broad range of both grain-inclusive and grain-free recipes, and they typically utilize ingredients like Brown Rice, Barley, Peas, Chickpeas, and Sweet Potatoes.

American Journey Salmon & Sweet Potato Recipe Grain-Free Dry Dog Food

Price: $17.34 - $110.10

American Journey Salmon & Sweet Potato Recipe is a high-quality dry dog food. Its nutrient profile is significantly above average and it provides significantly above average proportions of protein.IThe first ingredient of the Salmon & Sweet Potato recipe is real salmon, followed by turkey meal and chicken meal. The minimum nutritional breakdown of this recipe includes 32% protein, 14% fat, 5% fiber, and 10% moisture. The real salmon and chicken meal give this dry dog food a flavor most dogs will enjoy. overall health.

Antioxidant-rich ingredients help support a healthy immune system, while omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids help support skin, coat, brain and eye health.No unnecessary extras like corn, wheat, soy, or poultry by-product meals, so there’s more room for the ingredients your pup needs to thrive every day.

4.Rachael Ray Nutrish

Rachael Ray Nutrish is an extremely popular pet food brand and is one of Blue Buffalo’s biggest competitors. Rachael Ray Nutrish dog food is an above-average dog food that has decent ingredients and budget price tag compared to similar brands.They believe in using real ingredients for nutrients and offering it at an affordable price point to be accessible to pet owners who want high-quality nutrition for their cats and dogs.Rachael Ray Nutrish is priced below Blue Buffalo, with their recipes typically costing between $1.5 per pound to $2 per pound when purchased in larger bags.

This dog food line has a wide variety of wet and dry food, as well as treats and biscuits to choose from. Nutrish also has limited ingredient recipes and grain-free recipes, so it can work for most dogs.Rachael Ray Dog Food is made in the USA, although it is not specified where. Their wet recipes are made in Thailand like many other wet dog food and wet cat food brands.

They manufacture its products using a standard process of cooking and dehydrating ingredients to be formed into a powder that is then processed into kibble or wet food.The ingredients consist of multiple protein sources per food to ensure a well-rounded amino acid profile and an array of plants and gluten-free grains for vitamins, minerals, and dietary fibers. The ingredients found in Rachael Ray Nutrish’s recipes are very similar to Blue Buffalo, with the inclusion and widespread use of Chicken, Chicken Meal, Brown Rice, and Peas.And it does include some ingredients that are not commonly found in Blue Buffalo recipes, like Soybean Meal, Brewers Rice, and Corn.

You can  purchase Rachael Ray Nutrish from several of the online pet food websites like Amazon and Chewy, which often stock more recipes or offer discounts.

Rachael Ray Nutrish Real Chicken & Veggies Recipe Dry Dog Food

Price: $53.28 for 40 lbs

The Rachael Ray Nutrish Dry Dog Food, Real Chicken & Veggies Recipe is su-paw nutritious and delicious! Real chicken is the first ingredient, and it supports healthy organs and helps your furbaby to maintain lean muscle mass. This food has a moderate protein percentage of 26%.Fiber sources like peas and brown rice help to support healthy digestion for a happy tummy. Omega-3 fatty acids from fish oil promote an active mind, and antioxidants help to support a healthy body. Whole grains help to maintain balanced energy levels. This food does all of that with no fillers, artificial flavors, artificial preservatives or other bad stuff. Plus, a portion of the proceeds will be donated to The Rachael Ray Foundation, which helps animals in need.

5.Merrick Pet Care

Merrick Dog Food is a premium pet food brand. It was founded in 1988 in the home kitchen of Garth Merrick (owner), who started developing healthy food recipes for his dog Gracie.Merrick Dog Food’s ideology is built on five promises to their customers: using real whole foods, using high-quality ingredients, health improvement in your dogs, crafted in the original kitchen of Garth Merrick and giving back to society.

All Merrick dog foods are produced in the United States. Most of the brand’s dry and wet recipes are manufactured at one of its 3 company-owned facilities in Hereford, Texas. These three facilities are Safe Quality Food (SQF) Level 3 certified and HACCP (Hazard Analysis, Critical Control Points) certified. Thus, there is no doubt about the safety compliance of their production facilities.Unlike most pet food brands, Merrick owns its own cannery.

Merrick is a high-end dog food that’s filled with organic ingredients as much as possible. Each recipe is high in protein, with a mixture of plant and animal sources.Moreover, all dog foods are formulated with high levels of glucosamine and chondroitin, which enhance bone health and strengthen muscles.All the ingredients for the dog food recipes are sourced from local farmers and ranchers near their production facility to keep the ingredients as fresh as possible.Merrick Dog Food also uses whole fruits and veggies such as apples, carrots, blueberries, and more to incorporate the goodness of fibers, antioxidants, and vitamins.

Merrick Backcountry Grain Free Dry Dog Food Recipes

Price: $81.98

Merrick Backcountry Freeze-Dried Great Plains Recipe dog food is an excellent cheaper alternative to Blue Buffalo Carnivora. Merrick’s Backcountry line uses the same kibble as many of their other grain-free recipes, with one key difference: it has chunks of freeze-dried meat mixed in.This formula incorporates freeze-dried raw meat to replicate the diets of your dogs’ ancestors.Merrick Backcountry dog foods feature an incredibly high protein content and organ meat to mimic prey feeding.Organ meats like beef liver are high in vitamins and minerals, especially vitamin A. It comes close with a 38% crude protein content from beef, lamb meal, and salmon meal.Merrick Backcountry is around 25% cheaper than the Blue Buffalo Carnivora Brand.

Q&A

Is Blue Buffalo really grain-free?

Yes. Their BLUE Freedom line of dog and cat foods are 100% grain-free. Our high-protein BLUE Wilderness line and limited-ingredient diet BLUE Basics line have grain-free formulas available as well.

Is Blue Buffalo high quality?

Blue Buffalo dog food is touted as a healthy and holistic brand. It contains high-quality ingredients without unnecessary additives. Complete and balanced, it contains all the vitamins, minerals and other nutrients that your dog needs to stay healthy. It's made in the USA, though from globally sourced ingredients.

Is Blue Buffalo worth the money?

Yes, Blue Buffalo Dog Food is worth it. Blue Buffalo Dog Food is an excellent choice for many pet parents. The brand offers a superior nutrition profile. The precise blend of carbs, proteins, and fats attests to the quality of this dog food.

Does Blue Buffalo source from China?

Blue buffalo does not source any of their meats, proteins, fruits, grains or vegetables from China.Blue Buffalo Dog Food outsources the production of its recipes to its US partners, which include: Tuffy‘s, Triple T Foods, CJ Foods, ANI/Vita-Line, and Ainsworth.

Why is Blue Buffalo dog food the best?

Blue Buffalo's Dry Dog Food lines are touted as some of the best dog foods you can buy. With whole-food ingredients and antioxidant blends formulated at low temps to sustain their vitamin content, it's no wonder this brand is one of the more expensive dry foods around.

Does Blue Buffalo have chemicals?

Unfortunately, Blue Buffalo Dog Food contains meat product meals and meat byproducts as well as synthetic ingredients, artificial preservatives, and fillers.

Where is Blue Buffalo pet food made?

While its headquarters is in Connecticut, Blue Buffalo has other locations across the United States,including states like South Carolina, California, and Missouri. Their only product made outside of the United States is the Chomp’ n’ Chow treats, produced in Ireland. 

Although the company seems to have a chain of manufacturing sites, it is public information that they do not own all these sites. They outsource the reduction of some of their pet foods to other companies. However, the pet foods produced in the various locations are not disclosed.

Is there a problem with Blue Buffalo?

Blue Buffalo recalled some of its products, including the Blue Wilderness Chicken Flavor dry dog food, Blue Life Protection Formula Natural Chicken, Blue Basics Limited Ingredient Formula Salmon, and Brown Rice Large Breed Adult dry dog food. They found these products to contain excessive levels of Vitamin D.

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