Fresh Dog Food Brands Compared (2026)

The best-known fresh dog food brands, among them A Pup Above, The Farmer's Dog, Ollie, Nom Nom, JustFoodForDogs, and Freshpet, all sell real, minimally processed food kept cold rather than shelf-stable. But "fresh" isn't one format: they differ in how it's cooked, whether it ships frozen or refrigerated, and where you can buy it. Here's how six of the most-searched fresh dog food brands compare, with a public source behind every competitor fact.

This isn't a ranked top pick; it's a factual roundup of what each brand's food actually is, how it's made, and how it's sold, so you can see the real differences instead of relying on marketing pages. Among A Pup Above's own customers, The Farmer's Dog, Ollie, Nom Nom, and JustFoodForDogs are all mentioned by name in reviews, almost always as a food someone tried before switching.¹

What Makes a Dog Food Brand "Fresh"?

"Fresh" isn't a regulated term, but across these brands it generally means real, whole ingredients cooked gently rather than extruded into kibble or sterilized in a sealed can, then kept cold instead of shelf-stable. Cooking method, whether the food ships frozen or refrigerated, and whether it's raw instead of cooked at all still vary a lot brand to brand. Raw brands, never cooked, always sold frozen, are usually marketed and searched separately from the gently cooked brands here; see our cooked vs. raw comparison if that's the distinction you're weighing.

How Do the Best-Known Fresh Dog Food Brands Compare at a Glance?

Here's how six of the most-searched fresh dog food brands compare on cooking method, how the food is stored, and how each is sold:

Brand	Cooking Method	Storage Category	Where It's Sold	Business Model
A Pup Above	Sous-vide, gently cooked	Frozen-fresh	Online and in 3,000+ retail stores nationwide	DTC subscription + retail
The Farmer's Dog	Gently cooked at low temperature in human food facilities2	Frozen-fresh (Frozen Fresh line); shelf-stable (Instant Fresh line, dried)2	Direct by subscription; added Walmart.com in April 20263	DTC subscription; limited retail
Ollie	Gently cooked at low temperature, vacuum-sealed4	Frozen-fresh	Online, plus select Petco stores and petco.com4	DTC subscription + retail (Petco, since 2023)
Nom Nom	Gently cooked in company-run kitchens5	Frozen-fresh (ships cold-packed; company instructs moving it to the freezer on arrival)5	Direct subscription + retail (Chewy, PetSmart, Amazon)5	DTC subscription + retail
JustFoodForDogs	Cooked in company-run kitchens6	Frozen-fresh (Fresh Frozen line) + shelf-stable (Pantry Fresh line, Tetra Pak)7	Petco and other retail partners, its own kitchen/pantry locations, and online6	Retail + DTC
Freshpet	Steam-cooked at lower temperature than kibble extrusion8	Fridge-fresh (refrigerated, never frozen)8	Grocery, mass/club, and pet specialty stores (30,000+ store fridges)9; also direct	Retail-led + DTC

Distribution runs on a spectrum more than a strict divide: every brand here now sells online and through at least some physical retail, just at different scales and starting dates. Freshpet leans almost entirely on retail shelf space, with tens of thousands of store fridges nationwide. The Farmer's Dog and Ollie both built their businesses around direct subscription; The Farmer's Dog only just added its first retail channel, Walmart.com, in April 2026, while Ollie's Petco partnership (roughly 800 stores) has run since 2023.⁴ A Pup Above, Nom Nom, and JustFoodForDogs each pair online ordering with an established retail presence of their own. Storage is the more clear-cut split, and it's worth its own breakdown next.

What's the Difference Between Fridge-Fresh and Frozen-Fresh?

Fridge-fresh means the food is only refrigerated, never frozen. Freshpet is the clearest example: steam-cooked, then kept cold from its own kitchens to a store fridge or yours, with a shelf life of days rather than months.⁸ Frozen-fresh means the food ships and stores frozen until you thaw it, how A Pup Above, The Farmer's Dog's Frozen Fresh line, Ollie, and Nom Nom all operate, even though Nom Nom's packaging arrives cold with dry ice rather than solid.⁵ Freezing buys more time before the food needs to be used, weeks to a few months once thawed versus days for a fridge-only product, at the cost of freezer space and a thawing step before every meal.

JustFoodForDogs and The Farmer's Dog each complicate the split with a third option alongside their frozen line: JustFoodForDogs' Pantry Fresh ships in shelf-stable Tetra Pak pouches that need neither a fridge nor a freezer until opened,⁷ and The Farmer's Dog's Instant Fresh is dried for the same reason.² Neither is refrigerated the way Freshpet is, so "fresh" actually spans three storage categories, not two: fridge-fresh, frozen-fresh, and shelf-stable-fresh. Which one fits your household usually comes down to freezer space and reorder frequency, not which is "more fresh" nutritionally.

How Does Each Brand Actually Work?

One more fact per brand, beyond the table above:

• A Pup Above puts real bone broth in every recipe, produced naturally during sous-vide cooking rather than stirred in afterward, and sells seven named recipes by bag size instead of a custom plan (current lineup on Fresh Dog Food, as of September 2026).
• The Farmer's Dog builds Instant Fresh around its own Low Heat Drying Technology™, a distinct process from the low-temperature cooking behind its frozen line; recipes come from a custom daily plan rather than a menu of named options.²
• Ollie vacuum-seals its meals before freezing and develops recipes with a board-certified veterinary nutritionist.⁴
• Nom Nom packs meals cold with dry ice or gel packs; the company's own instructions are to move them to the freezer right after unboxing.⁵
• JustFoodForDogs states that all of its daily diets have passed AAFCO-protocol feeding trials at Cal Poly Pomona, testing 30 adult dogs over a full year, more than AAFCO's standard minimum of six dogs and four blood parameters.¹⁰
• Freshpet's retail fridges do double duty: the same in-store units also function as fulfillment points for its direct Freshpet Delivery subscription.⁹

Is Freshpet Good for Dogs?

It depends on the dog, the same honest answer that applies to any brand. Freshpet is formulated by board-certified veterinary nutritionists to meet AAFCO standards and made from real meat and vegetables in APHIS- and FDA-registered U.S. kitchens.⁸ The more useful question is usually whether the fridge-fresh format fits your routine, a shorter shelf life once opened and a store fridge or delivery subscription instead of a freezer stash, and whether the specific recipe and life stage match your dog; check with your vet if there's a diagnosed condition or known sensitivity.

How Many Fresh Dog Food Companies Are There?

There's no official count, and the category keeps shifting as brands launch, get acquired, or add a fresh line to an existing kibble business. Beyond the six compared above, Open Farm, Spot & Tango, and Stella & Chewy's are also commonly marketed as fresh, gently cooked dog food.¹¹ The six here are simply the most searched by name and the most frequently mentioned in A Pup Above's own reviews as a food someone tried before switching.¹

How Much Do These Brands Cost, Roughly?

More than kibble, across every brand here; that's true of the category, not any one company. A 2022 Tufts University Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine survey of real diets found fresh food costs 4 to 6 times the priciest dry food and 18 to 27 times the cheapest.¹²

"There is a good quality diet available at nearly every price point for a healthy pet." Dr. Cailin R. Heinze, VMD, MS, DACVIM (Nutrition), writing for Tufts Petfoodology¹²

Subscription brands like The Farmer's Dog and Ollie price a custom plan around your dog's size rather than a flat bag price; The Farmer's Dog states plans "start at about $2/day."² Across A Pup Above's seven recipes, a 3lb x 2 bag runs $75.98 to $87.98 and a 7lb x 2 bag runs $157.98 to $191.98 (current pricing on Fresh Dog Food, as of September 2026), roughly $11 to $15 a pound. For the full breakdown by dog weight, see how much fresh dog food actually costs; the sampler pack is the lowest-cost way to try more than one recipe before committing to a full bag.

How Do You Choose Between These Brands?

Start with logistics before ingredients: the categories above rule brands in or out fast. No freezer space points toward Freshpet or a shelf-stable line like Pantry Fresh or Instant Fresh; wanting a fixed recipe you pick yourself instead of a custom plan points toward A Pup Above or JustFoodForDogs; wanting a physical store instead of a subscription points toward Freshpet, JustFoodForDogs, or A Pup Above's retail footprint. From there, check for an AAFCO "complete and balanced" statement¹³ and whether a board-certified veterinary nutritionist was involved in formulating the specific recipe, not just the brand overall.

If you want the criteria-first version of this question instead of a brand-by-brand rundown, our guide to choosing the best fresh dog food walks through what to look for regardless of brand. For a closer, single-brand comparison, see A Pup Above vs. The Farmer's Dog. Ready to try A Pup Above specifically? Browse the full recipe lineup, or start with the sampler pack to test a few recipes before committing to a full bag.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the most popular fresh dog food brands? A Pup Above, The Farmer's Dog, Ollie, Nom Nom, JustFoodForDogs, and Freshpet are among the most searched by name and the most frequently mentioned in customer reviews.¹ They differ mainly in cooking method, whether the food ships frozen, refrigerated, or shelf-stable, and where it's sold.

Is Freshpet good for dogs? Freshpet's food is formulated by board-certified veterinary nutritionists to meet AAFCO standards and made from real meat and vegetables, steam-cooked and kept refrigerated rather than frozen.⁸ Whether it's the right fit is the same dog-by-dog question as with any brand; check the specific recipe against your dog's needs, or ask your vet.

How many fresh dog food companies are there? There's no official count, and the category keeps growing. Beyond the six compared here, brands like Open Farm, Spot & Tango, and Stella & Chewy's also market fresh, gently cooked dog food.¹¹

What's the difference between fresh dog food and raw dog food brands? Fresh, gently cooked brands, the focus of this guide, build a cooking step in as pathogen reduction; raw brands never cook the food at all. See our cooked vs. raw comparison for the fuller breakdown.

Which fresh dog food brands ship frozen, and which don't? A Pup Above, The Farmer's Dog's Frozen Fresh line, Ollie, and Nom Nom all ship frozen or freeze-on-arrival. Freshpet ships and stays refrigerated. JustFoodForDogs' Pantry Fresh and The Farmer's Dog's Instant Fresh are shelf-stable instead, needing neither a fridge nor a freezer until opened.

How does A Pup Above compare to brands like The Farmer's Dog or Ollie? A Pup Above cooks sous-vide and sells seven named recipes online and in 3,000+ retail stores. The Farmer's Dog and Ollie both sell primarily by subscription: The Farmer's Dog only recently added its first retail channel, Walmart.com, in April 2026, while Ollie has sold through a nationwide Petco partnership since 2023. See our full A Pup Above vs. The Farmer's Dog comparison for the sourced breakdown.

Sources

1. A Pup Above customer reviews via Okendo (aggregate, as of September 2026). ↩
2. "Frequently Asked Questions," The Farmer's Dog: https://www.thefarmersdog.com/faq ↩
3. "The Farmer's Dog Is Coming to Walmart. Here's What That Actually Means for Fresh Pet Food," My Vet Candy: https://www.myvetcandy.com/news/2026/3/26/the-farmers-dog-is-coming-to-walmart-heres-what-that-actually-means-for-fresh-pet-food ↩
4. "How It Works," Ollie: https://www.ollie.com/how-it-works ; "Our Food at Petco," Ollie: https://www.ollie.com/petco/ ↩
5. "How It Works" and "FAQ," Nom Nom: https://www.nomnomnow.com/how-it-works/ ; https://www.nomnomnow.com/faq ↩
6. "Dog Food Near Me: JustFoodForDogs Locations," JustFoodForDogs: https://www.justfoodfordogs.com/locations/ ; "Petco Expands Partnership with JustFoodForDogs," Petco: https://corporate.petco.com/2022-03-01-Petco-the-Retail-Leader-in-Premium-Fresh-Frozen-Expands-Unique-Partnership-with-JustFoodForDogs-to-Meet-Growing-Pet-Parent-Demand-and-Capture-Multi-Billion-Dollar-Market-Opportunity ↩
7. "Shelf-Stable Fresh Dog Food," JustFoodForDogs: https://www.justfoodfordogs.com/shelf-stable/ ↩
8. "How Pet Food Is Made at Freshpet," Freshpet: https://www.freshpet.com/how-its-made ↩
9. Freshpet, Inc. Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript (Aug. 12, 2026), The Motley Fool: https://www.fool.com/earnings/call-transcripts/2026/08/12/freshpet-frpt-q2-2026-earnings-call-transcript/ ↩
10. "Feeding Trial Certificates," JustFoodForDogs: https://www.justfoodfordogs.com/content/feeding-trial-certificates.html ↩
11. "Best Fresh Dog Food 2026: 7 Brands Worth the Switch," Petful: https://www.petful.com/food/fresh-dog-food-guide/ ↩
12. "Expensive eats? Comparing the costs of different types of dog food," Petfoodology (Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine), Cailin R. Heinze, VMD, MS, DACVIM: https://sites.tufts.edu/petfoodology/2022/03/21/pet-food-costs-by-type/ ↩
13. "'Complete and Balanced' Pet Food," U.S. Food and Drug Administration: https://www.fda.gov/animal-veterinary/animal-health-literacy/complete-and-balanced-pet-food ↩