IS HOMEMADE DOG FOOD ACTUALLY CHEAPER?

I'm Teddy. "Is it cheaper?" is the second question people ask my human (the first is how much to feed). The honest answer depends entirely on what you're comparing it to — so here's the full receipt, with real supermarket maths instead of marketing maths.

What feeding a dog costs in Australia, per day

Typical shelf and plan prices, mid-2026. Prices move week to week and state to state — the calculator uses yours.

The worked receipt: one batch, priced at the supermarket

Here's our chicken & butternut recipe — one full batch, which cooks down to about 920 g of finished food — priced at typical Coles/Woolies shelf prices:

≈ $1.11 per 100 g of cooked food. The other four recipes land between $1.10 and $1.30 per 100 g — beef & sardine and lamb cost more per kilo but are denser, so per calorie they're similar.

Notice what dominates that receipt: the meat is 85% of the cost. Vegetables are nearly free. That matters later, when we talk about cutting costs.

And the premix?

Full transparency, since it's the thing we sell: at our planned launch price of AU$30 for a 250 g tin, The Premix costs $0.12 per gram — dosed at 13.5 g per 1,000 calories, that's about 55¢ a day for a 5 kg dog, 90¢ for a 10 kg dog, and $1.20 for a 15 kg dog. It's included in every "all-in" number on this page. (Whatever balancing supplement you use, price it in — an unbalanced diet isn't a saving, it's a deferred vet bill.)

All-in cost by dog size

Range reflects recipe choice and shelf prices. Based on the feeding amounts in our feeding chart (normal activity, ideal body condition).

The fresh-delivery comparison, honestly

Fresh-delivery dog food is good food — properly formulated, genuinely convenient. It's also the most expensive way to feed a dog in Australia. A 10 kg dog on a subscription typically costs $400–550 a month; the same dog home cooked is about $145–195. That's a saving of roughly $250–390 every month — over a 12-year life, somewhere around $40,000 per dog. What the subscription buys you with that money is real: zero cooking, zero maths, portioned pouches. Whether that's worth a used car is a personal decision, not a nutrition one.

Five ways to cut the cost (and two things never to cut)

Buy protein on special and freeze it. Meat is 85% of your cost, and chicken, turkey and kangaroo rotate on special constantly. Buying at $8–9/kg instead of $11–12 takes a 15 kg dog from ~$8 to ~$6.50 a day. Use frozen vegetables — nutritionally comparable to fresh, often half the price, zero waste. Cook bigger batches — the recipe scaler on every recipe page goes up to 14 days; freezer space is the only limit. Pick the economical recipes — chicken and turkey cost the least per calorie. Go supermarket-brand on quinoa, oil and salt — the dog genuinely cannot tell.

Never cut: the meat quantity (it's the protein) and the premix dose (it's the nutrition). Shrinking either changes the diet, not just the bill.

Quick answers

How much does home cooked dog food cost in Australia?

About $1.10–1.30 per 100 g cooked at typical supermarket prices — all-in with the premix, roughly $2.90–3.90 a day for a 5 kg dog, $4.80–6.50 for 10 kg, $6.50–8.80 for 15 kg.

Is it cheaper than fresh-delivery dog food?

Yes — typically 40–60% cheaper for the same dog, and the gap widens as dogs get bigger. The convenience is what you give up.

Is it cheaper than kibble?

No. Premium kibble is cheaper, and that's fine to say out loud. Home cooking is for people who want fresh whole food and full ingredient control at roughly half the fresh-delivery price — not for beating kibble on cost.

What's the single biggest cost lever?

The protein. Shop the meat specials, freeze in batch-sized portions, and rotate toward whichever of chicken, turkey or kangaroo is cheap that week — the recipes are designed so you can rotate without rebalancing anything.