Pros
- Uses a wide range of whole ingredients, including organs such as beef heart, to provide dogs’ diets with vitamins and minerals. Sundays is one of the very few fresh dog food brands that manage to give a balanced and complete mix of vitamins and minerals without using any artificial substances whatsoever.
- Significantly more affordable than most fresh dog food brands thanks to local sourcing and practical, cost-effective production methods. Delivery frequency is also easily adjustable through a drop-down menu in the product page.
- Ready-to-eat right out of the box. Retains freshness with no refrigeration whatsoever.
- Sundays dog food recipes are expertly crafted and regularly updated by a team of world-leading veterinary nutritionists and seasoned food technologists. See the recipe changelog for more info about these updates.
- Website has a comparison feature that lets you search up to 3,000 different dog food brands to compare it to their own.
Cons
- Limited recipe choices. Only beef and chicken are available so far. No news yet as to whether they plan to expand on that.
- Only dry food is available. No fresh or wet offerings to speak of.
Dry food is the most popular type of pet food, because of its shelf stability, simplicity, and price. But I find that with these advantages comes a very profound disadvantage: dry food such as kibble is usually lacking in terms of nutrition. Since it’s so cheap, manufacturers try to get the best balance of taste and nutrient content for the lowest production cost possible.
Enter Sundays Dog Food. Founded by husband-and-wife team Michael and Tory Waxman, it aims to bring consumers a product that combines the simplicity of kibble with the wholesomeness and high–end quality of the products sold by fresh dog food subscription services. And it certainly helps that Tory is a veterinarian and Michael is an engineer. Leading their team of veterinary nutritionists and food scientists, they were able to create one of the most successful premium subscription-based dry dog food brands on today’s market.
But how true are all the glowing ratings and favorable reviews of this brand online? Can this pass as the best dog food delivery service brand for dog owners? Let’s take a look at my detailed review of Sundays for dogs focusing on their strengths and weaknesses.
Features of Sundays Dog Food
100 Percent Human Grade and All Natural
Sundays Dog Food combines the simplicity of kibble with the wholesomeness and nutritiousness of fresh dog food, and thus makes use of only USDA approved human grade ingredients. Absolutely no artificial preservatives or flavorings used. The USDA also monitors their kitchens to ensure that their preparation processes are always up to FDA standards [1].
Slowly Air-Dried
Sundays uses a slow and gentle air drying process under low heat to retain the rich nutrient content of their recipes, as well as their excellent, all-natural flavor. This keeps their products fresh for weeks after opening—a convenience most pet parents seek.
Premium Taste
Their air drying technique also gives their kibble premium taste and crunch, comparable to jerky but without the pesky preservatives and artificial flavorings. This results in the kibble being as pleasant and captivating as treats, thus making dogs excited for every mealtime.
Nutrient-Rich
Their kibble makes use of over 20 ingredients for the best nutrient mix possible. This includes nutritious organ meat such as beef heart and liver, as well as ground bone. The recipes also feature a diverse range of natural supplements like turmeric, flaxseed, and sunflower oil, as well as natural taste enhancers such as tart cherries, shiitake mushrooms, and sea salt. This expansive nutrient list is also regularly updated to improve the overall health benefits dogs can get from their products.
Regularly Updated Recipes
Although their recipes are limited to beef and chicken at the moment, the world-leading veterinarian team (led by co-founder Tory Waxman, VMD) and human food technologists regularly add new ingredients to improve the health benefits dogs gain from their food, based on recent studies and as those ingredients become more available. You can view what they’ve changed in the recipes by visiting the changelogs on their website.
No Refrigeration Needed
Sundays dog food retains its freshness even without refrigeration, which is remarkable considering how fresh the ingredients are. And even up to 8 weeks after opening, Sundays kibble tastes like it was just made that same morning. After 8 weeks, the kibble starts to lose flavor, but is still good to eat for at least a few weeks more. However, if your pet takes a while to finish one bag of Sundays, the company recommends that you keep their products in airtight containers, especially if you live in a humid climate.
Competitive Pricing
Since Sundays deals in fresh premium kibble, their products cost much less than that of most fresh dog food brands. For the average male dog, you can end up spending as low as $25 per week. That comes up to about $4 per day, which is considerably less than the average of other dog food companies that play around $6-7, $5 at the lowest.
Is This The Right Choice For You?
The primary advantage with Sundays is that their food is incredibly easy to serve to your dog. Just shake it out of the box and into their bowls. This is because it’s essentially the same thing as kibble, but much fresher, meatier, and more nutritious.
It’s certainly pricier than regular kibble, but if you consider how much more wholesome it is, it’s well worth it. It’s rivaled only by Spot and Tango’s UnKibble, but considering the richness of Sundays kibble, it is arguably the superior of the two.
However, when matched up with other fresh products, such as fresh frozen meals, Sundays is a more economical but ultimately less quality product.
There’s also the matter of there being limited choice in meat. This is balanced out somewhat by the fact that each recipe is exceedingly rich in wholesome ingredients, but if your dog is sensitive to either type of meat, then you’ll be locked into one or the other. Fortunately however, both are rated for all life stages, and the chicken recipe is an especially good dog food for elderly maintenance.
If you’re simply looking for some premium kibble that is made of real fresh meat and a comprehensive nutrient mix formulated by veterinarians and food scientists, Sundays is perhaps the best choice out there. But if you think optimal nutrition and freshness is more important than the ease and convenience of kibble, then you’re best off simply going for a brand that deals in fresh meals.
