| Website | A La Carte |
| Country of origin | Australia |
| Available from | Jumbo Pets |
A La Carte is made by a small Australian company. They’re not overly well known but seem to have a following with breeders on the east coast. The food is very reasonably priced considering the ingredients are pretty good. If you prefer grain free then check out their grain free range.
For this review we’ll use the Smoked Chicken & Rice formula as a benchmark, but consider the other formulas on par.
The four main ingredients are chicken, rice, lamb, and cereals, so two meats to two grains. It’s good to see the two meats, and rice is fine in moderation, but it’s a shame to see the inclusion of ambiguous cereals. This is where the grain free range looks to be the better option.
There’s a good range of ingredients, and some nice inclusions. Probiotics are great to see to boost digestive health, as well as glucosamine and chondroitin for joint health.
The range is well priced and a good mix of quality and affordability.
Where to buy?
Ingredients
A La Carte dog food ingredients:
Dried Chicken, Rice, Dried Lamb, Ground Cereal, Chicken Fat, Oat Meal, Lamb Flavor, Dried Fish, Oat Bran, Beet Pulp, Alfalfa, Sunflower Oil, Salt, Sodium Bentonite, Calcium Ascorbate (Source of Vitamin C), Essential Vitamins (vitamin A, D, E, K, B1, B2, Niacin, B6, B12, Biotin, Folate), Tocopherol (Source of Vitamin E), Essential Minerals (Calcium, Selenium, Phosphorous, Zinc, Manganese, Iron, Copper, Cobalt, Iodine), Lacto Bac Plus (Probiotic Culture), Choline Chloride, Naturox, Yucca Schidigera, Kelp, Glucosamine, Chondroitin.
I started using A La Carte dog food for my two bcs as I wanted a product not owned by Mars, Nestlé or another big company.
I mix it with pet meat sourced from a local butcher and lightly cooked peas, carrots and pumpkin.
I am very happy with this product as are my two border collies, aged 13 and 5.
Most bags are good but every few bags the dogs don’t want to eat it, same flavour.
Everywhere I buy it from run out often and they all hate dealing with this company. The store says the information in their communication is always wrong and promises are worthless.
Anyone got any reviews – either good or bad – on this food? Particularly the Lamb and Rice, anyone use it for breeding dogs or rearing puppies? Thanks
A La Carte pet care operated by OEM Pet Care Australia Pty Ltd – Totally dishonourable as they don’t honour their online sales. They sold me a product online, then they decided it was sold ‘too cheap’ because of, as they say a ‘glitch in the system’, they did not even take the time to contact me, a week after I bought the product I had to call them to see what was happening with my order only to be told of their glitch and that they in fact now don’t have stock, so they obviously sold the product that I bought to someone else, or they are they selling things online that they don’t actually have and they don’t disclose that fact online.
How did peoples dog do eating this kibble?? & which formula did they eat…
Susan,
Just for your information hereafter you should find our brand new gold class double smoked grain free formulas. I hope to attachment worked ?
We are trying the lamb and rice out! I have fussy cavs so we will have to see and report later
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/d624802aa849c8aee57f715cb2d5af015efd4a892681725c328126ff03678e15.jpg here it is?
I have had a terrible time dealing with this company. They have been rude and hard to deal with. I left them be for a couple of years and came back hoping they had lifted their game and imporved their customer service but alas it is worse than ever. Won’t be going back. Communication problems is a big sticking point. Its a shame as I run a retail pet shop + a large boarding facility and produce regular litters of kittens and was hoping to swich all my food across to theirs.
As a retailer, very difficult company to deal with,very poor communicators, extreamly hard to attain information from, consistant supply became a major problem. We did promote their product quite heavily with various breeders but they gradually lost intrest due to poor of results and availability issues.
Have been feeding this food for several years now with great results. My only complaint is the interruption in supply, such a great product that in my opinion and with better management, could be a market leader
From the review I’d say it’s a good food? Been feeding my Gsd ivory coat and blackhawk to rottie and sammy. Is its quality just as good as Blackhawks?im planning on switch my rottie and sammy to this food as it’s also rated 4 star, same as Blackhawks, and based on my calculation the change will save over 300bucks a year. They don’t seem to have sample bags though, don’t wanna buy 6 18kg bags and find out that my babies don’t like it.
In my opinion better thanBlack Hawk. I used to buy Black Hawk when I was still breeding Irish Wolfhounds awesome product . . I’d buy direct and it was in a plain white plastic bag with a sticker . Emu oil was still being used . The bag got fancier . The price went up. Product was sold to big company who promptly changed the recipe and used flax seed oil instead . I’d not use it now especially if breeding animals involved . I e recently heard the original inventor now has a new range but haven’t tried it yet .
It still has emu oil, just a lot less it seems. True Colours is a new brand by those that make Man’s Best and are using the original Blackhawk recipe.
https://www.truecoloursfordogs.com.au/
They now have 1.5kg bags…
Hi Eric, I think they sell individual bags, but as they’re mostly a wholesaler you pay a fair bit more that way. Could be worth trying a bag?
yeah i guess im gonna give it a go. Thanks for the reply btw. Just wanna ask how the salmon/tomato recipe is different to the all life stages lamb/rice recipe? there is not much detail on their website which is way too dated in these days… I suppose i will happily feed either of them, but still its good to find out why the salmon one is slightly more expensive? parents always want the best for their babies 🙂 cant fault that
I would like to know where I can purchase a la carte dog food., as it seems you do not mentioned any retailers, Thankyou.
Hi Bianca, you can purchase it direct from OEM PetCare if you live in the eastern states. As a wholesaler it works out much cheaper buying 6 x bags, which is a reason many breeders seem to opt for this food.
http://www.oempetcare.com/
I found the “Spot On Derma Pro” Hypoallergenic Diet… I thought Hypoallergenic Diets just had a single protein like Kangaroo, Rabbit, Duck, Lamb, Salmon…. The Spot On Derma Pro diets have 3 proteins… lamb meal, meat meal (doesn’t say what type of meat) & fish meal…Dogs with skin problems (yeasty skin) cant eat corn wheat corn gluten, yeast culture & whatis cotton meal?? http://www.connex.com.au/pdf/spot-on.pdf
Hi I have just seen the A La Carte dog food, where is it sold?? I’m just worried about the Cheese meal as an ingredient as my boy has IBD & Skin allergies, Do all the kibbles have the cheese meal…I’m worried that the cheese meal may give my boy diarrhea.. He is eating the Meals For Mutts Salmon & Sardines brown rice but he is starting to smell real yeasty & is scratching, so I’m looking for a new kibble preferably one that’s low in carbs & low in fat around 10% fat… I just went on the A La Carte web page but I cant work it out.. I just want to see all their kibbles & then the ingredients then the Protein% fat% fiber% ash% etc…but its vey confusing all I can see are adds & prices..I see the New Platinum but I cant find the ingredients or fat protein fiber %…maybe look at other companies & see how they have their web pages set up like Wellness Holistic Select or Meals For Mutts.. they don’t mention cheap prices… when I see a kibble that’s real cheap, I think its no good, its just like the supermarket kibbles… I’d rather read what is in the kibbles then see the prices then once I like all the ingredients then I’d go looking where to buy & how much it cost.. just my opinion if the ingredients & fat protein % is right.. I don’t care about the price especially after my dog has been on a crappy vet diets….
I just found the fat Protein & Fiber % & the ingredients…..
I have been trying for several weeks now to get a feeding guide and as yet they have not sent me one. We order approx a pallet a month and at the moment we are gestimating as there is nothing on either the old or the new labels about how much to feed. Good food but disappointing that it is taking so long to get an answer.
Hello Adele,
Good to hear from you on this site. I am the sales manager at Oem Pet Care Australia Pty, (A LA CARTE manufacturing and distributing company in Australia). I am sorry to hear that no one has replied to you about your concern regarding our feeding guide. if you send me your email address to gerard@connex.com.au, I will email you a copy of our new bags where it is showing on it. May I ask you which formula are you currently using? Best regards
Gerard JOUAULT
Export manager
We’ve been feeding our dogs the A La Carte for a few months. Certainly the dogs eat it & seem to maintain good condition, but what I’ve found is a big drawback is that they all seem to get sticky, tacky poos that cling to their butts. Since we have Papillons, this may not occur in dogs with short coats, but it is a real nuisance for us. Also one of our dogs didn’t tolerate it at all, constant bloody diarrhoea. Best food we’ve ever used is Vet’s All Natural Mix, add your own preferred meat source (& a bit of coconut oil if you like following the latest fads. The dogs love it, no allergies, no tummy troubles – brilliant!
Hello Sue,
I am sorry to hear that one of your dogs did not seem to enjoy as much our A LA CARTE Formula. May I ask you which of our 3 formulas are you currently using? Did you also organize a transition period before switching food ? What were you using before A LA CARTE? Do you know that we also have a low grain formula Named Salmon and Potato specially designed for sensitive digestive systems (No Corn No wheat). Perhaps you should try it ? Happy to assist. Cheers Gerard