# How cost effective is The Honest Kitchen?



## Kayota (Aug 14, 2009)

I want to try THK but I'm just not sure... Does a 10 lb box REALLY rehydrate to 43 lbs? I'm just scratching my head at that... really?! That would make it about $1.40 per lb which is definitely not over my budget... And it seems much better than most kibbles in general, especially the added moisture... Faxon just drinks SO much water right now and I think it would help to have that. Plus her sensitive bowels. Is there any solid source for that info that someone can link me to? Also... Has anyone used their Quiet Tea anxiety supplement? I'm trying to expand my options for Faxon in that regard too.


----------



## zhaor (Jul 2, 2009)

yes 10lb of anything + 33lbs of water would give you 43lbs.

I think THK is about 7% moisture before rehydrating. Kibble are about 7-10% moisture. So for the most part, you can kind of just compare it to kibble directly without rehydration.


----------



## Kayota (Aug 14, 2009)

Thanks for the info. I'm still trying to figure out if it's worth it... I really want to give it a shot but I'm just not sure. Most reviews are saying it will cost more. I am thinking of mixing it with kibble.


----------



## Bumper1 (Jul 14, 2013)

It costs 8 - 10 times what it costs to use a good dry food. I haven't seen anything that suggests it is worth the money.


----------



## Ivyrose (Aug 11, 2013)

Have you considered Grandma Lucys? Its cheaper, and my dog actually likes it more than THK. The ingredients are good, and you still rehydrate it with water. I paid $23.00 for a 3lb bag of chicken pureformance GL.


----------



## Abbylynn (Jul 7, 2011)

I too am looking to add another food. I thought about THK ... but I will probably go with the Grandma Lucy's. I like the looks of the Performance. The Artisan you have to add meat ....


----------



## Shell (Oct 19, 2009)

Abbylynn said:


> I too am looking to add another food. I thought about THK ... but I will probably go with the Grandma Lucy's. I like the looks of the Performance. The Artisan you have to add meat ....


Only the Artisan Pre-Mix needs added meat. The other artisan formulas are complete.



Bumper1 said:


> It costs 8 - 10 times what it costs to use a good dry food. I haven't seen anything that suggests it is worth the money.


I have found it a little more expensive than kibble but no where near 8-10 times as expensive. The PureFormance Chicken for example- Each (dry) cup is calculated at 591 kcal/cup. Acana Wild Prairie (to compare chicken to chicken) has 434 kcal/cup. There are about 50 cups in a 10 lbs bag of GL's and about 100 cups in a 29 lbs bag of Acana WP. 

So about 29,550 kcal/bag of GL and 43,400 kcal/bag of Acana Wild Prairie. Since the price per bag is about the same (depends on where you buy it obviously), that makes Grandma Lucy's just about 1.5 times as expensive on a calorie basis. 

I like it because it does really well with raw meat mix-ins and I can find various manager's specials or cheap cuts of meat for about $1/lb

I can also mix it with cheaper kibble to entice picky eaters while still stretching the bag.


----------



## Abbylynn (Jul 7, 2011)

Thanks for clearing up the "Artisan pre-mix" ... I was confused! Lol!


----------



## InkedMarie (Mar 11, 2009)

I've fed THK for seven or eight years. I probably feed a little more of this than kibble but that's okay. I honestly don't worry about cost too much. I feed a variety of foods: dehydrated, canned, kibble, pre made raw & grinds. I lays have various stuff open, they usually get something different at every meal. They love THK. I have Grandma Lucy's here and they seem to like THK best. 

If you want to try dehydrated,why not try both THK & GL?


----------



## Bumper1 (Jul 14, 2013)

Embark is recommended to feed 3, 10lb boxes at a cost of $270 a month. This formula is a 29/18, so a daily cost of $9 This is for an active dog of 50 - 70 lbs.

1) A 44lb of Dr. Tim's 30/20 Pursuit is $65.00, with 175 cups in the bag. If you figure that sized dog would eat 3 cups per day then the bag lasts 58 days. So $65/58 equals a feed cost of $1.13 a day, so THK costs 9 times as much. In my book DRT is a much better food.

2) TOTW Wetlands costs roughly $45 for a 30lb bag, so about $1.12 a day. THK costs 9 times as much

3) Fromm Gold feeding 4 cups a day would cost $1 day.

So, I believe I am correct that THK would cost as much as 10 times feeding better kibbles.

There is no way GL has the calories it claims on an ME basis. Not a chance at 9% fat.


----------



## Shell (Oct 19, 2009)

Bumper1 said:


> Embark is recommended to feed 3, 10lb boxes at a cost of $270 a month. This formula is a 29/18, so a daily cost of $9 This is for an active dog of 50 - 70 lbs.
> 
> 1) A 44lb of Dr. Tim's 30/20 Pursuit is $65.00, with 175 cups in the bag. If you figure that sized dog would eat 3 cups per day then the bag lasts 58 days. So $65/58 equals a feed cost of $1.13 a day, so THK costs 9 times as much. In my book DRT is a much better food.
> 
> ...


You'll note that I was comparing Grandma Lucy's (in my calculations) which is cheaper since that was also in the discussion and against slightly pricier foods because those are often the ones consider "better"

But even using Embark as the example:
10 lbs ~ 40 cups. 488 kcal/cup = 19,520 kcal per bag. THK prices it (from them) at $86 so that's about 227 kcal for $1.

Fromm Adult Gold is 1,783 kcal/ lb (per lb kcal is listed on their website) x 33 lbs = 58,839 kcal per bag. About $50 per bag which is 1,177 kcal for $1

So about 5 times the cost for THK compared to the (grain-inclusive) Fromm Gold. 

Since I've never found the recommended feeding guidelines of ANY type of dog food to be particularly accurate across the board, the best thing IMO is just to try it out and see how a dog does on a food and how long a given amount lasts that particular dog. But for the sake of comparison calculations, I think using calorie counts is a reasonable way to do it.


----------



## Bumper1 (Jul 14, 2013)

Shell said:


> You'll note that I was comparing Grandma Lucy's (in my calculations) which is cheaper since that was also in the discussion and against slightly pricier foods because those are often the ones consider "better"
> 
> But even using Embark as the example:
> 10 lbs ~ 40 cups. 488 kcal/cup = 19,520 kcal per bag. THK prices it (from them) at $86 so that's about 227 kcal for $1.
> ...


Fromm gold is much less than $50 a bag..figure $40, even a bit less. So 6 - 7 times more even if you believe the THK calories which I don't. Plus to spend all this money on foods that are so high in starch seems foolish. Your Grammy Lucy's is probably 40% carbohydrate.


----------



## Shell (Oct 19, 2009)

Bumper1 said:


> Fromm gold is much less than $50 a bag..figure $40, even a bit less. So 6 - 7 times more even if you believe the THK calories which I don't.


Since different places have different in-store prices, I looked at the price on a few big name internet suppliers. It was $49 from Chewy and $51 from PetFlow. 

Which formula someone chooses of either THK or GLs and which kibble they prefer to compare it to makes a big difference in terms of saying they are $X more costly to feed than Y kibble. 

I know that using the prices from my local store and how much of each food MY dog needs to maintain weight, that Grandma Lucy's comes out to be about 1.5 times as expensive for what I consider a similar kibble. The Honest Kitchen is pricier but works out to be about 3 times as expensive. From speaking with my friend who owns the store, this seems in line with her other customers observations. 
I would go through about 40 lbs of kibble in a month at about $60/bag. If the dried foods were 10 times as expensive, that would be about $600 per month. I'm pretty sure I would notice if I was spending that much and I know that none of my friends who feed THK have that kind of money. 
With a combo of Grandma Lucy's, pre-made raw for treats, regular butcher cuts of meat and organs as toppers, it is (for one 80 lbs dog) about $90 for a month's worth of food versus $60ish for kibble.


----------



## InkedMarie (Mar 11, 2009)

THK may be more costly but ou can certainly use it as a topper or feed it once a day, every few days etc


----------



## Kayota (Aug 14, 2009)

yeah i like the looks of it and i think it would be good for faxon especially. she's more than proven herself to have a sensitive gut in the time i've had her, between smelly soft poops with undigested food and a couple of puking incidents. i switched her to a grain free food and her poop firmed up in days... i think that dehydrated would be good for her.


----------



## InkedMarie (Mar 11, 2009)

Kayota, give one or both a shot. Btw, pretty sure you posted on dogfoodadvisor; I commented but I don't think you saw it.


----------



## TinyTails (May 16, 2011)

We feed dry food for breakfast and THK for dinner in my house and I think it has really helped all of my animals. It's too costly for us to do 100% THK as we have a 100 pound GSD along with the chihuahuas, but I really think even doing half their diet without kibble helps


----------



## the_honest_kitchen (Jan 28, 2013)

Kayota said:


> I want to try THK but I'm just not sure...


Hi Kayota! Kate from the honest kitchen here. The food does thicken up quite a bit depending on the amount of water you add - and yep, 10lbs can rehydrate to 43lbs. If you are interested, I can send you some free samples so you can test it for yourself and see what your pups think. You can email me directly at [email protected]. Let me know!

Here is a quick chart that can help you figure out how much a box will last you - and yes, mixing with kibble is a great way to make sure your dogs are getting great nutrition while making a box last longer:










Also as far as cost, our food can be more expensive than others because we focus on getting the highest quality ingredients. We are actually the _only_ pet food that is FDA approved to use the term human grade so our foods are taste tested by humans and produced in a human food facility. You can read more about our product quality here: http://www.thehonestkitchen.com/the-benefits/product-quality

Feel free to shoot me any questions and I'll be happy to answer them


----------



## InkedMarie (Mar 11, 2009)

Glad Kate showed up! I do want to say one thing that may differ from what she said: I've fed all the THK's except for Verve and Preference and Zeal is the one that doesnt thicken up much. Doesnt matter to me, my Boone loves the stuff! He must or I wouldnt have just joined the consierge club to get it, LOL


----------



## the_honest_kitchen (Jan 28, 2013)

InkedMarie said:


> I've fed all the THK's except for Verve and Preference and Zeal is the one that doesnt thicken up much.


Great point Marie! Yes, our recipes do thicken up differently because of the different ingredients and some are thicker than others. Zeal is our "soupiest" by far. Here is a link to a video about the different consistencies with some examples: http://www.youtube.com/watch?list=UUL6EwMgJ2UAKUnebiQHjGow&v=SHJ1E9lBKnk


----------



## InkedMarie (Mar 11, 2009)

the_honest_kitchen said:


> Great point Marie! Yes, our recipes do thicken up differently because of the different ingredients and some are thicker than others. Zeal is our "soupiest" by far. Here is a link to a video about the different consistencies with some examples: http://www.youtube.com/watch?list=UUL6EwMgJ2UAKUnebiQHjGow&v=SHJ1E9lBKnk


I've never seen that video! I remember feeding Keen, looked much like my oatmeal!


----------



## Ivyrose (Aug 11, 2013)

Kayota, THK and GL are more expensive than the average kibble, but my dogs been eating GL and occaisonally THK for 6 months now and I have noticed such a big difference. She's more excited about meal time, her coat/skin went from dull and dry to so shiny and healthy looking I constantly get compliments, she drinks less, (she was constantly drinking water before.) The list really goes on and on so the price is really worth it. I mixed with kibble for awhile just to make it last longer, so there's definitely options. 

This is really a case of you get what you pay for!


----------



## Kayota (Aug 14, 2009)

Kate, can you compare the overall per month cost of THK to any particular brand of kibble? That is my main concern here.


----------



## TXTorres (Mar 31, 2013)

I LOVE THK. I used to feed it as a topper to my dogs a few years ago, and now I use it in different ways. It IS expensive though, in my opinion. I feed them Nutrisource grain free kibble, and a few nights a week I feed them THK mixed in with meats. 

I would not be able to afford to feed it exclusively, but they LOVE it when they get it!!


----------



## zhaor (Jul 2, 2009)

Kayota said:


> Kate, can you compare the overall per month cost of THK to any particular brand of kibble? That is my main concern here.


Honestly considering what I remember about your financial situation, I would not recommend going for any freeze dried food. If you want to try a little, go ahead but I don't think it's something that you can realistically do long term right now.


----------



## Laurelin (Nov 2, 2006)

I would highly recommend sampling THK before buying a bunch. I bought a box because I got all excited about it and neither of my dogs would touch it at all. Even Mia who eats anything. I tried mixing it with kibble to use it up but eventually just had to toss it because it expired.


----------



## Echofox (Mar 13, 2013)

How cost effective is THK? Well, I can't speak for the other formulas, but I have found that feeding Preference mixed with my own home cooked meat has saved me quite a bit in the way of vet visits, medications, supplements and peace of mind. 
Before I chose to try the Preference, my dogs were having issues that I wanted to get to the root of their cause. One had developed chronic anal gland problems, and extreme itching, biting, scratching, hot spots, and general miserable symptoms. The other dog, no matter what premium kibble I tried, could not produce a solid stool and always looked like he could stand to gain some weight. Ribs, hip bones just a bit to visible.

Going to THKP cleared up all those problems, so in my opinion, it is Very cost effective.


----------



## Kayota (Aug 14, 2009)

zhaor said:


> Honestly considering what I remember about your financial situation, I would not recommend going for any freeze dried food. If you want to try a little, go ahead but I don't think it's something that you can realistically do long term right now.


yeah that's kind of what i was thinking. i think it would be okay to mix a little in with kibble but as a majority of their food, probably not.

EDIT: I did some calculating and the cheaper kind I looked at would come out to about $18/month. I spend about that on my dogs anyway on stuff they don't need, lmao


----------

