Ukrainian dog food: comparing the composition of 9 manufacturers on one basis

Of 30 dry foods for adult dogs from two Ukrainian online stores, the five cheapest per 1000 kcal turned out to be Ukrainian: from UAH 24.1 to 29.2, which is UAH 25.5 to 30.9 per day for a 20 kg dog (our own calculation from store listings and manufacturer websites as of 01.10.2026, energy estimated with NRC 2006 factors). The low prices sit on the bottom shelf: Ukrainian foods with a named meat as the first ingredient cost from UAH 29.2 to 81.8 per 1000 kcal, and the more expensive of them sit next to imported Pro Plan (71.1), Monge (77.2) and Royal Canin (UAH 78.1).

Key points

• The five cheapest per 1000 kcal among 30 adult dog foods are Ukrainian: UAH 24.1–29.2.
• The most expensive Ukrainian food in the sample costs UAH 81.8 per 1000 kcal and ranks 25th of 30; the five most expensive (UAH 91.5–167.5) are imported.
• A month of feeding a 20 kg dog with these nine foods costs from UAH 765 to 2599.
• One of the nine brands has its trademark registered in Ukraine, but the food is made in Poland.

Which Ukrainian foods are cheapest per 1000 kcal?

The four cheapest of the nine cost from UAH 24.1 to 29.2 per 1000 kcal: Nutra 5 Stars, Gav, Pan-Pes and Roycher “Daily”. The difference between the top and bottom rows of the table is 3.4 times.

See also: Dog food rating

Store listings and manufacturer websites as of 01.10.2026, regular prices without delivery, energy per NRC 2006, our own calculation. 20 kg dog: 1059 kcal per day according to the daily amount by weight. Class is the store's label (what the classes mean).
* to be checked against the package: questionable ash and trace minerals.
** data from the manufacturer's website.

How much is that per day and per month?

The price per 1000 kcal is the price per kilogram divided by the food's energy in thousands of kilocalories. Two bags of the same weight provide different amounts of energy, so a food that is cheaper per kilogram can be more expensive per day of feeding. A 20 kg dog needs 1059 kcal per day: a day costs from UAH 25.5 to 86.6, a month from UAH 765 to 2599.

Is Ukrainian dog food always cheaper than imported?

At the bottom of the shelf, the belief matches the math: the five cheapest per 1000 kcal out of 30 adult dog foods are Nutra 5 Stars (UAH 24.1), Gav (24.5), Pan-Pes (26.9), Roycher “Standard” (28.3) and Roycher “Daily” (UAH 29.2). Sixth is the imported Friskies at UAH 34.7.

After that, the pattern breaks. Optimeal Medium costs UAH 69.3 per 1000 kcal and Home Food Medium UAH 81.8, the same as imported Pro Plan (71.1), Monge (77.2) and Royal Canin (UAH 78.1). The five most expensive foods in the sample are imported: Brit Care 91.5, Hill's 99.7, Savory 101.5, Acana 131.0 and Orijen UAH 167.5.

A sale changes the price more than the country does: with a 30 % discount, Optimeal came to UAH 48.6 instead of 69.3, a third cheaper than Pro Plan.

What does the word “Ukrainian” on a bag mean?

On the store listings these are two separate fields: “brand country of registration” and “country of manufacture.” For eight of the nine brands, both say Ukraine, while Half&Half has its brand registered in Ukraine and Poland listed as the manufacturer.

The market operator responsible for labeling is the trademark owner, or the importer for imported food. The Law “On Feed Safety and Hygiene” puts it this way: “The market operator responsible for feed labeling is the market operator that owns the trademark for goods and services registered in accordance with the law and contained in the feed labeling, and for imported feed, the importer” (Article 23).

A Ukrainian address on the bag does not prove a Ukrainian factory. When the food was made by another operator, Article 26 requires a separate line with the manufacturer's address or the number of the facility where the food was made.

Why is there plenty of protein but no named meat first?

The protein percentage does not show where that protein came from. Nutra 5 Stars has 31.1 % protein on a dry matter basis, more than Optimeal (28.9 %) and Home Food Medium (27.8 %), yet its first four ingredients are ground corn, wheat flour, barley and brewer's yeast; meat and bone meal and corn gluten come further down (analysis from the store listing).

Dry matter is the food without moisture, and protein is compared on that basis because otherwise a food with 9 % moisture looks poorer than the same food with 6 % moisture.

Naming a meat in the ingredients does not promise high protein either: Roycher “Standard,” with chicken meat first, has 22.2 % protein on a dry matter basis, the same as Pan-Pes with cereals. You need to read three things together: the protein percentage, the first five ingredients, and whether they name the type of meat with a percentage.

Who to trust: the store listing or the manufacturer's website?

The manufacturer's website, or better yet the package in your hands. The listing for the Roycher “Daily” line showed 20 % protein, 11 % fat and 4.59 % ash, which are the figures of the neighboring “Standard” line. For “Daily,” the manufacturer states chicken meat 26 %, 25 % protein, 15 % fat, 6.5 % ash and 9 % moisture.

Going by the listing, this food looks like ordinary economy food. According to the manufacturer's data, its protein on a dry matter basis is 27.5 %, higher than Club 4 Paws Premium (26.7 %), at a price UAH 8 lower per 1000 kcal.

Some numbers are simply missing from the listings: energy is given for 5 of 9, moisture for 4 of 9, and Pan-Pes Standard and Optimeal Medium show neither, so their energy here is estimated using NRC 2006.

How can you check that a food is really Ukrainian?

1. On the store listing, find the “country of manufacture” field, not just “brand country of registration”: for Half&Half these fields differ.
2. On the bag, read the line about the manufacturer or the facility number (Article 26), because the address on the label of imported food is the importer's address.
3. Check the ingredients and guaranteed analysis against the manufacturer's website: the Roycher example shows that a listing may describe a different line.

DELICATE is a dry food for adult dogs from Dnipro; according to the label, poultry meat and by-products come first in the ingredients (at least 60 %), with 32 % protein, plus glucosamine and chondroitin; 397 kcal per 100 g (calculated per NRC 2006). A 10 kg bag costs UAH 1,188 with delivery; for a 20 kg dog that is 267 g and about UAH 31.7 per day. Suitable for adult dogs with normal activity; not suitable for dogs with a poultry allergy or for puppies under 10 months. We did not include ourselves in the table above: our energy value has not yet been confirmed by a laboratory analysis of a batch. Full ingredients on the page for chicken food.
See the food — UAH 1,188

What to do if you want to buy Ukrainian?

• If the bag lists the energy value, divide the price per kilogram by it: the price per 1000 kcal multiplied by 1.06 gives the daily cost for a 20 kg dog.
• If there is no energy value, take the next bag on the shelf: from the Pan-Pes or Optimeal listing, you cannot calculate the cost of a day of feeding.
• If you need grams, enter the weight in the portion calculator: for a 20 kg dog at 397 kcal/100 g, that is 267 g per day.
• If you want to save money without losing a named meat in the ingredients, compare Roycher “Daily” (UAH 30.9 per day according to the manufacturer's data) with Club 4 Paws Premium (UAH 39.6): over a year that is UAH 3,132.

Questions and answers