Nom Nom vs The Farmer’s Dog : We Tried Them Both, Here’s Our Breakdown

With the rising popularity of fresh dog food, two brands have earned a lot of attention. Nom Nom and The Farmer's Dog both have a lot to love: high-quality ingredients, great taste, and food that ships right to your door.

But in the battle of Nom Nom vs Farmer's Dog, which fresh food will win? We put these two big brands to the test. We judged based on the ordering process, delivery process, transition, packaging, price, quality of ingredients, variety, and–of course–what our dog thought of each food!

⏰ Short on time? Here's a recap of our Nom Nom vs Farmer's Dog verdict

Ordering the Food

Ordering fresh food from Nom Nom and The Farmer's Dog was pretty painless for both brands.

Nom Nom asks pet parents a few simple questions about their dog (such as age, weight, and activity level), then recommends the best recipes for your pup. You have the final say in which recipes you pick–simply select, review, and check out.

Despite having no hiccups in the ordering process, Nom Nom's website was a bit lackluster. It was easy to navigate but barebones in style. Still, it did the job.

The Farmer's Dog was equally easy to order from, but their creative website design made the experience more entertaining. Not only was The Farmer's Dog's website intuitive, it was whimsical, as well.

The Farmer's Dog asked similar questions, including our dog's age, weight, size, allergies, and activity level.

Both websites were easy to order from, but The Farmer's Dog did so with more style, making the process fun and easy.

🥇 Winner: The Farmer's Dog

The Delivery Process

Nom Nom and The Farmer's Dog both had a lot of good things going for them in the delivery process. They both used eco-friendly packaging and dry ice to keep the packages of fresh dog food cold. There were some notable differences between the two, though. The most obvious? Shipping times.

Nom Nom took quite a while to ship. The box showed up a whopping nine days after my payment was processed! It also arrived late at night, around 9 PM.

The Farmer's Dog had lightning-fast shipping, though. It arrived just two days after I received a confirmation email!

Although both brands included dry ice in the packages to keep everything cold, this worked better for The Farmer's Dog than it did for Nom Nom. Shipping time may have been a factor, but The Farmer's Dog came with a big block of dry ice, and the fresh meals inside the box were frozen completely solid.

The dry ice in Nom Nom's box had dwindled to only a small amount. The food inside their box was cold but had begun to thaw. The packets inside were rubber-banded together based on the recipe, which made unloading the box and keeping track of everything easier. However, removing the rubber bands quickly got messy. The slushy, melting ice on the packets flew off with each removed rubber band. I had to shield myself while unpacking them to avoid the flying, freezing slush!

I opened both boxes right away. Based on how they were packed, The Farmer's Dog box probably would have stayed frozen even if I couldn't get to it right away. The box from Nom Nom, on the other hand, was already warming up by the time it hit my doorstep.

🥇 Winner: The Farmer's Dog

Transitioning to Nom Nom and The Farmer's Dog

I had some help testing out Nom Nom and The Farmer's Dog. For that, I turned to our one-year-old Blue Heeler mix puppy, Brother.

Brother hasn't met a food he didn't like, but he still has his favorites. For instance, he loves his kibble, but he loves cheese even more. Nom Nom and The Farmer's Dog fell into the same category as his beloved cheese. When transitioning him onto each of these brands, he went straight for the fresh food before even touching his kibble.

We got him to do all kinds of tricks for his food, too! He worked on learning to wave hello every night at dinner time.

Needless to say, Brother was happy to test out Nom Nom and The Farmer's Dog. He was obsessed with the taste and loved trying out the different recipes.

I worried at first that Brother might have trouble transitioning from dry dog food to fresh dog food, but he did great with both brands. He had no stomach troubles whatsoever.

In fact, fresh dog food is easier on dogs' stomachs than dry kibble. With that in mind, it's no surprise that Brother was not only in great spirits, he was more energetic, too!

This improvement was the most visible while Brother tested out The Farmer's Dog. He had more zoomies, played enthusiastically, and was a happy pup! This wasn't the only change that I noticed, either. Brother's naturally coarse fur got softer and shinier. Only two weeks' worth of The Farmer's Dog made a huge difference!

That soft, shiny fur continued while he ate Nom Nom. Plus, he started to smell better! His breath and fur didn't carry much scent at all after a couple of weeks of Nom Nom.

The transition went well for both brands, but The Farmer's Dog treated Brother best. It was his favorite in terms of flavor, and his newfound energy and softer, shinier fur happened faster than I could have imagined.

🥇 Winner: The Farmer's Dog

Packaging and Preparation

The Farmer's Dog has a lot of good things going for it–but their packaging isn't one of them. Their packaging keeps your dog's food fresh, but with one whole day's worth of food in one packet, you'll have to separate a portion for each meal. This is easier said than done. To open their packets, you have to cut along the top and squeeze the contents out.

Nom Nom makes things a little easier with individually pre portioned meals. Their food can be opened by peeling the top film away from the rest of the packet. This isn't a perfect process by any means–I had more than one packet rip while opening, but it was still easier than the alternative.

Nom Nom was also a lot easier to store in our freezer!

The Farmer's Dog has long, cylindrical packages of fresh food. They were hard to fit around food in our freezer thanks to the awkward length of the packages, and they were impossible to stack.

Nom Nom’s food came in flat, rectangular packages. Not only did this make them easier to fit next to food in our freezer, it also made them easy to stack on top of each other.

🥇 Winner: Nom Nom

Our Canine Expert Weighs In: Brother's Review

They say that food is the way to a person's heart, and that goes double for our puppy, Brother. He loves all foods, but human food is his favorite. It was no surprise, then, that he was head-over-heels for freshly made food.

Brother enthusiastically chowed down on both Nom Nom and The Farmer's Dog. He did tricks before every meal, begged for seconds, and chased his bowl all over the kitchen to get every last lick.

His favorite Nom Nom recipe was the Pork Potluck. Despite its watery texture, he adored it. When it came to The Farmer's Dog, he preferred their Beef Recipe (with the Turkey Recipe coming in a close second).

Brother was a huge fan of both brands and preferred them to his old food, but ultimately The Farmer's Dog was the winner in his book. He would beg an hour before dinner every night until it was finally time to eat. He sprinted at record speeds down the hallway when it was time. And when I set the bowl of food in front of him, he ate it so fast that if you blinked you would miss it.

I've never seen Brother so enthusiastic about any dog food! I'd even venture to say that he liked The Farmer's Dog more than most human food!

🥇 Winner: The Farmer's Dog

Quality of Ingredients

One of the things that really impressed me with Nom Nom and The Farmer's Dog was the quality of their fresh ingredients. Looking down at each brand of dog food, I could see diced chicken, ground beef, pieces of vegetables, and bits of eggs. The meals from both fresh dog food companies smelled like real, actual food.

Both brands use high-quality ingredients. The Farmer's Dog doesn't include any preservatives or fillers, while Nom Nom raises the bar using high-quality ingredients. Both brands formulate their recipes with the help of board certified veterinary nutritionists.

Even though both brands use high-quality ingredients, Nom Nom impressed me the most. They went above and beyond by using high-quality ingredients. On top of that, their food is gently cooked in small batches. Nom Nom sustainably sources their ingredients and aims to reduce food waste, too.

🥇 Winner: Nom Nom

Variety of Meals

Nom Nom and The Farmer's Dog are neck and neck when it comes to the variety of meals that they offer. Here are the recipes offered by each brand:

Nom Nom

• Beef Mash (beef, potatoes, eggs, carrots, peas)
• Chicken Cuisine (chicken, sweet potatoes, squash, spinach)
• Pork Potluck (pork, potatoes, green beans, squash, kale, mushrooms)
• Turkey Fare (turkey, brown rice, eggs, carrots spinach)

The Farmer's Dog

• Turkey Recipe (USDA turkey, chickpeas, carrot, broccoli, spinach, parsnip, TFD nutrient blend, salmon oil)
• Beef Recipe (USDA beef, sweet potato, lentils, carrot, USDA beef liver, kale, sunflower seeds, TFD nutrient blend, salmon oil)
• Chicken Recipe (USDA chicken, USDA chicken liver, broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, chia seeds, TFD nutrient blend, salmon oil)
• Pork Recipe (USDA pork, sweet potato, potato, green beans, cauliflower, USDA pork liver, TFD nutrient blend, salmon oil)

Both brands avoid wheat, one of the most common food allergies for dogs. Both offer different proteins so even if your dog is allergic to beef or chicken, you still have options.

If your dog has food allergies and you want to try either of these brands, make sure to note your pup's allergies during the ordering process. It’s always a good idea to double-check the ingredients list, too.

The Farmer's Dog just barely takes the lead for best variety of recipes. With five The Farmer’s Dog recipes and only four from Nom Nom, The Farmer’s Dog gives you more to choose from. It's worth noting that finding ingredient lists for The Farmer's Dog is tricky–you have to complete their questionnaire to view the recipes and ingredient lists. On the other hand, Nom Nom puts the ingredients for all of their recipes right on their website. There’s no questionnaire needed to see them.

Winner: The Farmer's Dog

Price

Like most fresh dog food brands, Nom Nom and The Farmer's Dog both vary in price. Your dog’s size, weight, age, and activity level all affect the price.

The Farmer's Dog starts as low as $2 per day. For Brother (our active puppy weighing just over 50 pounds), that translated to $140 for two weeks' worth of dog food ($75 with our 50% off reader discount).

Nom Nom’s meals start as low as $2.40 per meal. For Brother, it cost about $170 per week. With our 50% off discount, that comes to about $85 per week.

You may have noticed that the price for The Farmer's Dog is for two weeks' worth of food, while the price for Nom Nom is for one week's worth of dog food. To help break it down, here's the discounted cost per week for Brother for each brand:

• $85 per week for Nom Nom
• $38 per week for The Farmer's Dog

Needless to say, The Farmer's Dog has the best price.

Winner: The Farmer's Dog

My Verdict: The Farmer's Dog vs Nom Nom

Both of these fresh dog foods are fantastic, but there can only be one winner in this showdown. This was a close one. But with the superior taste, the best price, the widest recipe variety, and the fastest shipping, The Farmer's Dog takes the cake in this competition.

Winner: The Farmer's Dog

Brother had some amazing results with The Farmer's Dog. His fur became so soft and gained a beautiful shine that he's never had before. Brother is obsessed with the taste, too! This is easily one of the best fresh dog foods we’ve tried.

Don't take my word for it, though. With our 50% off reader's discount, you can try this fabulous food for yourself and see if it's your dog's new favorite, too.