Best Dog Food in India: Brands and Prices Compared (2026)

There is no single best dog food. The right one is a complete food your dog does well on, that you can afford every month, and that you can buy reliably. This guide helps you compare: who makes each brand sold in India, where it’s made, what it costs per kg, and how to read the label.

How we put this together: we didn’t run feeding trials. We compared the labels and prices listed on Supertails and Heads Up For Tails on 20 October 2026, and the makers’ own pages. No brand paid to be here. If your dog has a health condition, your vet’s advice comes first.

How to read a dog food label

1. Look for the “complete and balanced” statement. It means the food is meant to be the dog’s whole diet, not a treat or topper. It is the maker’s own claim: AAFCO, the American body whose nutrient standards most labels quote, says it “does not regulate, test, approve or certify pet food” (AAFCO). “AAFCO-certified” on a pack means nothing.

2. Check it’s for your dog’s life stage. Puppy (growth), adult, or all life stages. Large-breed puppies need a food made for large-breed growth.

3. Read the first ingredients. They make up most of the food. A named meat or meat meal (“chicken meal”) near the top tells you more than “meat and bone meal” or “animal derivatives”.

4. Compare protein and fat the fair way. AAFCO’s minimum crude protein is 18% for adult dogs and 22.5% for puppies, measured on a dry-matter basis (AAFCO nutrient profiles). Bags show the “as fed” figure, which includes moisture, so dry kibbles of about 10% moisture can be compared with each other directly, but not with wet food.

5. Preservatives. Ethoxyquin is still allowed in the US at up to 150 parts per million (FDA), but the EU suspended it as a feed additive in 2017 (EU Regulation 2017/962). If you’d rather avoid it, look for mixed tocopherols (vitamin E) or rosemary extract instead.

Brands sold in India, by price per kg

Prices are the Supertails price on the largest bag, checked 20 October 2026. Smaller bags usually cost a good deal more per kg, so compare the bag size you’ll actually buy. “Made in” is from the product labels.

• Chappi (Mars), made in India: ₹127 a kg (₹2,542 for 20 kg)
• Pedigree Adult Chicken & Veg (Mars), made in India (Telangana): ₹166 a kg (₹3,319 for 20 kg)
• Himalaya Healthy Pet Food Meat & Rice (Himalaya Wellness), made in India (Bengaluru): ₹210 a kg (₹4,206 for 20 kg)
• Pedigree PRO Large Breed Adult (Mars), made in India (Telangana): ₹297 a kg (₹5,942 for 20 kg)
• Drools Focus Adult (IB Group), made in India: ₹395 a kg (₹5,130 for 13 kg)
• Farmina N&D Ancestral Grain (Farmina), made in Italy: ₹641 a kg (₹9,614 for 15 kg)
• Fidèle+ Adult Large Breed (Orange Pet Nutrition, Pune), made in Belgium: ₹691 a kg (₹7,466 for 10.8 kg)
• Royal Canin Maxi Adult (Mars), made in South Africa: ₹691 a kg (₹13,816 for 20 kg)
• Acana Adult Large Breed (Champion Petfoods), made in Canada: ₹820 a kg (₹13,939 for 17 kg)
• Royal Canin Labrador Adult (Mars), made in South Africa: ₹849 a kg (₹10,182 for 12 kg)
• Farmina N&D Pumpkin Lamb (Farmina), made in Italy: ₹1,034 a kg (₹12,411 for 12 kg)
• Orijen Original (Champion Petfoods), made in Canada: ₹1,059 a kg (₹17,999 for 17 kg)

A few things the list shows:

• Price and origin aren’t the same thing. Pedigree is made in India; Royal Canin’s Maxi and Labrador foods sold here are imported from South Africa; Fidèle+ is an Indian brand made in Belgium.
• The Drools and Farmina prices include free kg offered on those bags on the day we checked.
• Hill’s Science Diet wasn’t listed on Supertails or Heads Up For Tails when we checked, so it isn’t in the list.

Choosing within your budget

• Under about ₹200 a kg: Pedigree Adult and Chappi are the lowest-priced dry foods. Read the first ingredients and protein figure, and compare with Pedigree PRO or Himalaya, which cost a little more.
• About ₹300 to ₹400 a kg: Pedigree PRO and Drools Focus are made in India and widely stocked, so you’re unlikely to run out.
• About ₹600 to ₹850 a kg: Royal Canin, Fidèle+, Farmina N&D Ancestral Grain and Acana. Royal Canin’s breed foods (Labrador, Golden, German Shepherd and others) suit dog parents who want a breed-specific formula; an indie or a mixed breed does fine on a general adult food of the right size.
• Over ₹1,000 a kg: Orijen and Farmina’s grain-free lines.

Whatever you pick, buying the same food every month matters more than chasing a “premium” label your budget can’t sustain.

Breed-specific and weight-control foods

Breed foods aren’t necessary, but they’re a convenient way to get a kibble size and calorie level that suits the breed. For a Labrador that’s gaining weight, the portion matters more than the brand: see Labrador weight problems. For indies, see what to feed an indie.

Adding home food

Many Indian dog parents add home food to kibble. That’s fine if you keep it small and safe:

• Good additions: plain boiled chicken without bones, boiled egg, cooked vegetables such as carrot, pumpkin and beans.
• Keep extras small. A complete kibble is already balanced; large amounts of rice, roti or curd rice on top dilute it and add calories.
• Never: onion or garlic in any form, raw, cooked or powdered, which damage red blood cells (Merck Veterinary Manual); grapes and raisins; chocolate; xylitol, a sweetener in some sugar-free foods; macadamia nuts (ASPCA).
• Milk: adult dogs make little of the enzyme that digests milk sugar, so milk can cause diarrhoea (ASPCA). Try a small amount first.

Switching foods

Change over about a week: mix a little of the new food into the old, and increase it every couple of days. A sudden switch often upsets the stomach.

FAQs

Is Pedigree good for dogs? Pedigree Adult and Pedigree PRO are complete foods made in India by Mars and are among the lowest-priced dry foods sold here. Whether one suits your dog depends on how your dog does on it: a good coat, firm stools, steady weight and energy. Compare the first ingredients and protein figure with foods in the next price band before deciding.

Is Royal Canin worth it in India? Royal Canin’s Maxi Adult and Labrador Adult cost about ₹690 to ₹850 a kg on large bags, roughly four to five times Pedigree Adult, and the ones we checked are imported from South Africa. You pay for breed- and size-specific formulas. If your budget is tight, a complete food from a cheaper band, fed consistently, is a sound choice; ask your vet if your dog has a condition that needs a specific diet.

Is imported food better than Indian food? Not automatically. Compare the label, the life stage and the price per kg. Some well-known “foreign” brands sold here are made in India, and some Indian brands are made abroad.

Is grain-free food better? Not for most dogs. In 2018 the US FDA began investigating reports of a heart condition (DCM) in dogs eating some grain-free foods. Its last update, in December 2022, said the reports “do not supply sufficient data to establish a causal relationship” (FDA). Unless your vet suggests grain-free, an ordinary complete food is fine.

Should I feed a raw diet? Ask your vet first. Raw meat can carry bacteria such as Salmonella, a risk to the dog and to people in the home, and a balanced raw diet is hard to get right without expert help.

How much should I feed? Start with the feeding guide on the bag for your dog’s target weight, not its current weight, and adjust if your dog gains or loses. Weigh portions instead of using “a bowl”.

What does dog food cost per month? For a 20 kg dog eating about 9 kg a month, roughly ₹1,500 on Pedigree Adult, ₹3,600 on Drools Focus, or ₹6,200 on Royal Canin Maxi. See the full cost of raising a dog in Bangalore.

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