Open Farm vs Orijen: How Do They Compare?

If you’re looking for high-quality and nutritious food for your pet, there are lots of options readily available. With advances in pet nutrition, more companies are providing dog food made from human-grade ingredients.

Two such companies are Open Farm and Orijen.

In this Open Farm vs Orijen review, I’ll provide you with all the information you need to make an informed decision between these popular competitors.

I’ll compare the companies and their products. I’ll also provide a closer look at how they source their ingredients and where you can purchase their food.

As an affiliate I earn from qualifying purchases, but I only recommend products I find trustworthy and you pay nothing extra.

About their Companies

Open Farm is a Canadian company with its headquarters in Toronto, Ontario. They develop, formulate, and distribute their recipes in Canada, while their manufacturing takes place in Minnesota.

The company started when the owner wanted to provide high-quality food for their dog, Bella. Today they provide a variety of different foods using environmentally sustainable farming and Certified Humane meats.

For more information about Open Farm, you can read my full review here.

Champion Petfoods, also a Canadian-based company, is the maker of Orijen with its processing facility in Auburn, Kentucky.

Orijen has a similar mission, grounded in their belief that dogs and cats should have biologically appropriate nutrition. For over thirty years, they’ve been creating high-protein meals prepared in real kitchens.

Their foods include WholePrey ingredients, using both organs and bones to maximize nutrition.

Product Offerings

Both brands have several different product offerings. Open Farm has dry food, freeze-dried raw food, wet food, and gently cooked product lines. By the way, you can get 15% off your 1st order or 20% off subscriptions at Open Farm (use coupon code DOGENDORSED15 for all orders or DOGENDORSED20 for subscriptions).

Orijen also has both dry food, wet food, and freeze-dried raw food. Instead of a gently cooked line of foods, they offer freeze-dried dog treats and high protein dog biscuits.

Dry Food

Open Farm offers dry food that’s both gluten-free and high in protein. Their single-source proteins are always listed as the first ingredient on their foods. They offer a wide range of recipes, too:

• Grass-Fed Beef
• Grass-Fed Beef & Ancient Grains
• Wild-Caught Salmon
• Wild-Caught Salmon & Ancient Grains
• New Zealand Venison
• Ancient Grains
• Pasture-Raised Lamb
• Pasture-Raised Lamb & Ancient Grains
• Catch-of-the-Season Whitefish
• Catch-of-the-Season Whitefish & Ancient Grains
• Farmer’s Table Pork
• Farmer’s Table Pork & Ancient Grains

Check out Open Farm’s Dry Food (Get 15% off using coupon DOGENDORSED15 for all orders or 20% off using DOGENDORSED20 for subscriptions).

Orijen also offers dry dog food that’s gluten-free and high in protein. They offer dry food with at least 85% protein, using high-quality meat, poultry, and fish.

The first five ingredients in their meals are always fresh or raw protein. They offer the following recipe options:

• Original
• Six Fish
• Regional Red
• Tundra
• Fit & Firm
• Senior
• Puppy
• Puppy Large
• Small Breed

Wet Food

Open Farm calls their wet food “Rustic Stew.” These recipes use 100% human-grade ingredients and ethically sourced protein. Your dog can enjoy it as a mix-in with dry food or as a stand-alone meal.

Open Farm has six recipes: Grass-Fed Beef, Harvest Chicken, Homestead Turkey, Wild-Caught Salmon, Chicken & Salmon, and Herring & Mackerel.

Check out Open Farm’s Wet Food (Get 15% off using coupon DOGENDORSED15 for all orders or 20% off using DOGENDORSED20 for subscriptions).

Orijen’s wet dog food is packed with an astonishing 95% premium animal ingredients. These recipes also include WholePrey ingredients, such as organs and bone. Your dog can enjoy their wet food by itself or as a topper to their usual dry food.

Orijen has four wet food recipes: Puppy Poultry & Fish Pate Recipe, Original Stew Recipe with Chicken, Turkey & Eggs, and Chicken Recipe Stew with Shredded Chicken & Eggs.

Freeze-Dried Raw Food

Freeze-dried raw food from either brand provides an easy method for feeding raw meat to your dog. Open Farm’s freeze-dried raw food uses 85% raw animal ingredients mixed with organic fruits and vegetables.

Open Farm offers six freeze-dried raw recipes: Surf & Turf, Grass-Fed Beef, Homestead Turkey, Harvest Chicken, Pasture-Raised Lamb, and Farmer’s Table Pork.

Check out Open Farm’s Freeze-Dried Raw Food (Get 15% off using coupon DOGENDORSED15 for all orders or 20% off using DOGENDORSED20 for subscriptions).

Orijen offers freeze-dried food with a slightly higher protein content. Their freeze-dried food contains 90% protein, including meat, organs, and other edible animal ingredients.

You can choose between three recipes: Original, Regional Red, and Tundra.

Open Farm’s Gently Cooked Food

Open Farm also has their Gently Cooked food line. These recipes use 100% human-grade ingredients, which are gently cooked using the sous-vide cooking method. The meals are then frozen and shipped to your home.

Gently Cooked comes in four recipes: Grass-Fed Beef, Surf & Turf, Homestead Turkey, and Harvest Chicken.

Check out Open Farm’s Gently Cooked Food (Get 15% off using coupon DOGENDORSED15 for all orders or 20% off using DOGENDORSED20 for subscriptions).

Orijen’s Freeze-Dried Dog Treats

In addition to their freeze-dried dog food, Orijen offers freeze-dried dog treats. These treats use high-quality protein to form a treat that’s both healthy and delicious for your dog.

Their freeze-dried dog treats come in seven recipes: Original, Six Fish, Regional Red, Tundra, Ranch-Raised Beef, Free-Run Duck, and Grass-Fed Lamb.

Orijen’s High Protein Dog Biscuits

Orijen also offers a line of high protein dog biscuits. These contain animal protein, which is listed for the first three ingredients in each biscuit recipe.

Each recipe has 90% protein from animal ingredients, as well as other nutrient-rich ingredients to give your dog an energy boost. Like their freeze-dried treats, Orijen’s high protein dog biscuits are both healthy and delicious.

They offer four different high protein dog biscuit varieties: Original, Puppy, Regional Red, and Fit & Trim.

Sourcing of Ingredients

Next, I’ll discuss sourcing of ingredients between Open Farm vs Orijen,

Open Farm is committed to providing food made with the best ingredients. They pay special attention to ethically sourced ingredients.

Their Certified Humane meat doesn’t use growth hormones or antibiotics. These protein sources are treated ethically and sustainably.

For their fish recipes, they use only ocean caught fish. Because of their commitment to sustainability, they only use sustainable fishing practices guided by Ocean Wise and Seafood Watch standards.

When a recipe calls for produce, Open Farm uses fresh, non-GMO ingredients. To minimize their environmental impact, they source 90% of their produce in the same state (or a bordering state) as their processing facility.

The bulk of their ingredients come from within the United States and Canada, although they use coconut oil and certain vitamins from Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand.

Orijen uses similarly high-quality ingredients in t heir food. They source their ingredients from farmers, ranchers, and fisheries they trust.

Before they get ingredients from a source, that source must demonstrate a commitment to food safety, quality, and sustainability.

Unlike Open Farm, Orijen sources ingredients from around the world. They get their lamb from New Zealand and their fish from Scandinavia.

While their ingredients come from other world areas, they carefully trace and track their ingredients to ensure quality.

Type of Ingredients

Both companies provide gluten-free recipes and neither company uses artificial flavors or preservatives in their food.

Open Farm uses Certified Humane protein and non-GMO produce. They also employ sustainable fishing practices and use only wild-caught fish in their food.

Orijen uses WholePrey animal ingredients. That means they use both the meat and other animal parts, such as organs, cartilage, and bone to create their recipes.

Since animals in the wild consume these parts for their nutrients, Orijen believes in using them to provide for your pet’s nutritional needs.

They use ranch-raised meat and free-run chicken and turkey. All the eggs used in their recipes come from cage-free chickens. These chickens have free range of a huge barn where they can walk around and lay eggs in their nests.

Unlike Open Farm, Orijen doesn’t rely on wild-caught fish alone. While much of their fish is wild-caught, they also get their fish from farm partners who use responsible farm-raising practices.

Similarly, their product doesn’t claim to be organic or non-GMO. Instead, it is sourced from reliable sources that provide sustainable and ethical produce.

Product Availability

When comparing Open Farm vs Orijen, these brands are very similar in most respects, but their product availability is a primary point of difference.

Both brands offer food in retail locations. However, Orijen only offers their foods in retail locations. You cannot purchase their food online from their website.

One of the key benefits of Open Farm is the ability to save money buying online. Customers enjoy doorstep delivery and discounts when they buy directly from Open Farm’s website.

Orijen’s website, on the other hand, provides a tool to help you find their food at a retail location near you. While this makes it easier to add to your cart while running errands, it lacks the effortless draw of online shopping.

Fortunately, Orijen does offer a loyalty program. After you buy twelve bags of food from a retail location, you can enjoy the thirteenth for free.

The main caveat is that all the purchases must occur within a two-year period.

Conclusion 

Open Farm and Orijen are two pet food brands with a strong commitment to providing high-quality nutrition for your pet. Their foods include high-protein dry and wet foods, as well as freeze-dried raw recipes. Don’t forget that if you want to save on Open Farm, you can get 15% off your 1st order or 20% off subscriptions at Open Farm (use coupon code DOGENDORSED15 for all orders or DOGENDORSED20 for subscriptions).

While Open Farm boasts a Gently Cooked recipe line, Orijen offers two types of treats to tantalize your dog’s tastebuds.

Both brands offer high-quality food with responsibly sourced ingredients. However, Open Farm’s commitment to only wild-caught fish and non-GMO produce make their ingredients just a hair better than Orijen’s ingredients.

Combined with their other benefits (like locally-sourced ingredients and online ordering availability), this makes Open Farm a bit better in a couple ways.

Whether you choose Open Farm or Orijen, you can rest assured that you’re providing a quality product to your dog.