Taste of the Wild vs Blue Buffalo: Which is Better?

When it comes to getting high-quality dog food for a good price, Taste of the Wild and Blue Buffalo stand out. Both brands offer food made with natural ingredients like meat, fruit, and vegetables, without fillers like corn, wheat, or soy.

This guide will give you background on these two companies and their products. A point-by-point comparison will look at how these products match up in areas such as variety, quality of ingredients, nutrients, and price.

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About Taste of the Wild

Taste of the Wild is a family-owned company that was started in 2007. The owners of Taste of the Wild wanted to create a high-quality and affordable pet food option.

They believe in making food for your pet based on their ancestral diet. For dogs, that means engineering a diet that’s based on the diet of a wolf.

Taste of the Wild manufactures its products in the United States, getting ingredients from suppliers in both the United States and abroad. They carefully vet their suppliers, building relationships with the farmers supplying ingredients for their food.

Because they build long-term relationships with trusted suppliers, you can trust that your dog’s food has ingredients that are safe and high quality.

Taste of the Wild’s dog food recipe is designed by veterinarians and pet nutritionists. Their employees ensure that every step of production is producing a safe and high-quality product for your dog.

Check out the Taste of the Wild store on Amazon.

Strengths:

• Use only natural ingredients like meat, fruits, and vegetables
• Use natural preservatives only
• Use antibiotic and hormone-free meats
• Offer dry and wet foods, meat rolls, and treats
• Carefully vet ingredient suppliers

Concerns:

• Little variety and no options for special diets

About Blue Buffalo

Blue Buffalo was started in 2003 when its founders wanted to make high-quality food for their dog, Blue. They strive to use natural ingredients and provide dog food that has meat as its main ingredient. They don’t use corn, wheat, soy, or poultry by-product meals.

Blue Buffalo is also manufactured in the United States. They have a 6-point quality check to ensure food safety and quality. In creating their dog food recipes, they’ve consulted veterinarians and pet nutritionists. Their dog food is free of artificial flavors and preservatives.

Blue Buffalo provides a wide variety of dog food options. They offer different foods for age, breed, dietary limitations, and more. Their dog foods have “LifeSource Bits,” which are nutrient-dense pieces of cold-pressed food.

Blue Buffalo’s food offers grain-free food made with food your pet would eat in the wild, such as bison, venison, salmon, and beef.

Check out the Blue Buffalo store on Amazon.

Strengths:

• Use only natural ingredients like meat, fruits, and vegetables
• Use natural preservatives only
• Offer a wide variety of products, providing options for special dietary needs
• Made with meats like bison, venison, salmon, and beef

Concerns:

• Doesn’t use antibiotic and hormone-free meat
• Several product recalls

Comparison

To help you decide between Taste of the Wild vs Blue Buffalo, we’ve compared product variety, popular foods, nutritional makeup, ingredients, recalls, and price.

Variety Comparison

Taste of the Wild has two primary product lines: Standard Taste of the Wild and Prey (which has only four ingredients). They claim that their quality ingredients offer a balanced formula that meets all of your dog’s dietary needs.

Blue Buffalo has six product lines: Freedom, Basics, Wilderness, Carnivora, Veterinary Diet, and TrueSolutions. Their Basics line provides food with a limited ingredient list.

Freedom provides a grain-free diet. Carnivora is rich in protein. Veterinary Diet offers options for weight loss, kidney support, GI support, urinary support and more. Their TrueSolutions line provides joint mobility support, skin and coat care, weight control, and digestive care.

Although Taste of the Wild claims to meet all dietary requirements for special needs diets, Blue Buffalo’s Veterinary Diet and TrueSolutions offer recipes that specifically target these needs.

Both brands offer food formulated specifically for puppies, adults and senior dogs across their lines of products.

Popular Dog Foods

Some popular flavors from Taste of the Wild are:

• Southwest Canyon with Wild Boar
• High Prairie Canine Recipe with Roasted Bison & Venison
• Pacific Stream Canine Recipe with Smoke Salmon
• Sierra Mountain Canine Recipe with Roasted Lamb

Some popular flavors from Blue Buffalo are:

• BLUE Wilderness Rocky Mountain Recipe with Bison
• BLUE Life Protection Formula Adult Chicken & Brown Rice Recipe
• BLUE Wilderness Chicken Recipe Grain-Free Dry Food
• BLUE Basics Limited Ingredient Grain-Free Formula Turkey & Potato Recipe

Taste of the Wild’s Southwest Canyon with Wild Boar and Blue Buffalo’s Wilderness Rocky Mountain Recipe with Bison are similar in ingredients and nutritional makeup.

Nutritional Comparison

Protein: Taste of the Wild has a minimum of 29% protein, while Blue Buffalo has a minimum of 30% protein.

Fat: Both Taste of the Wild and Blue Buffalo have a minimum of 15% fat in their dog food.

Fiber: Taste of the Wild has up to 15% fiber, while Blue Buffalo has up to 4.5% fiber.

Moisture: Both Taste of the Wild and Blue Buffalo have 10% maximum moisture in their dry foods.

Ingredients Comparison

Both brands use similar quality ingredients. Taste of the Wild and Blue Buffalo both list meat as their first ingredient in their dog foods.

Neither company uses animal byproducts. Both brands provide food for your dog that is rich in nutrients and contains probiotics to help with digestion.

Taste of the Wild:

• Uses antibiotic and hormone-free meats
• Has a vetting process to get ingredients from trusted sources

Blue Buffalo:

• Has “LifeSource Bits,” which are cold-pressed and nutrient-dense pieces of food
• Doesn’t use antibiotic and hormone-free meats

Overall, both brands provide a similarly high-quality ingredient list. Although Taste of the Wild carefully vets their ingredient suppliers, Blue Buffalo provides safety and quality tests to ensure they provide a good product.

One point in Taste of the Wild’s favor is their use of only antibiotic and hormone-free meats in their dog food.

Product Recalls

Taste of the Wild has had one major recall in May 2012, which was instigated by Taste of the Wild as a precautionary measure. There was some concern about Salmonella contamination. There were no confirmed cases of Salmonella poisoning.

Blue Buffalo, on the other hand, has had a handful of product recalls:

• April 2007 – melamine was found in several brands of dog food, including Blue Buffalo.
• October 2010 – potentially toxic levels of vitamin D were found in Blue Buffalo dog food. The recall prevented more pets from falling ill.
• November 2015 – Blue Buffalo’s cat treats were recalled for having low levels of propylene glycol, although only one customer complaint was confirmed.
• November 2015 – Wild Chew Bones were recalled for possible Salmonella contamination.
• May 2016 – some dog food products were recalled because they were found to contain mold.
• February 2017 – canned dog food was recalled because it was suspected that they contained aluminum metal.
• March 2017 – Blue Wilderness Trail Trays were recalled because of a quality issue with the foil seal.
• March 2017 – one lot of dry food was recalled because they were suspected to contain elevated levels of beef thyroid hormones.

Because of both the number of recalls and their severity, Taste of the Wild may be a better option from a safety standpoint. However, each recall by Blue Buffalo has resolved production and quality control issues. Neither company has had a recall in the last three years.

Price Comparison

The price per ounce varies between each of their products, but most of their dry dog food varieties cost between $0.10 and $0.20 an ounce.

For example, Taste of the Wild’s Southwest Canyon with Wild Boar is $48.99 for 28 pounds, making it $0.11 an ounce.

On the other hand, Blue Buffalo’s Wilderness Rocky Mountain Recipe with Bison is $59.98 for 22 pounds, making it $0.17 an ounce.

The size of the bag and the specific line of dog food determine the price per ounce. You can save money on either one by purchasing larger bags of dog food.

Conclusion

Well, I hope you enjoyed my Taste of the Wild vs Blue Buffalo comparison article.

In most areas, Taste of the Wild is better than Blue Buffalo. Although both brands use similarly high-quality ingredients, Taste of the Wild uses antibiotic and hormone-free meat from trusted sources.

Blue Buffalo’s many recalls may cause concern for some dog owners, although Taste of the Wild has also had a product recall and neither brand has had any recalls in the last three years.

One major benefit of Blue Buffalo is their selection. If your dog is on a special diet, the specialty options provided by Blue Buffalo may be a better choice for your dog. Taste of the Wild claims that their recipes are suitable for dogs of all dietary needs.

While Taste of the Wild is better in most respects, Blue Buffalo is still a high-quality pet food brand. Both brands have pet owners who are wildly loyal to them.

Despite Blue Buffalo’s problems, they are still a safe and high-quality food for your dog. If you’re unsure about which brand better fits your dog’s diet, ask your dog’s veterinarian.

You might also like to read: Best Dog Food Brands On The Market