Akela Pet Foods Ltd Avis 

Fantastic company to deal with. Top rated food from a top rated team!

In terms of product quality for a whole food quality dog food, Akela is second to none. For this alone it would be easily 5 stars but with some inconsistency on delivery (sometimes waiting longer than expected) and a poor website that isn’t the most user friendly, it loses a star.

This review relates to Nutriwolds products purchased from Stef's Pet Pantry on 03/05/2026 Order Number 259409

I have fed Nutriwolds for a long time. It is a brand that was clearly started with heart and a genuine passion for high-welfare pet nutrition. I appreciate how difficult it must be to keep a business profitable in the current economic climate. However, freshness, safety, and clear labelling should never be points of compromise. Sadly, my recent experience has highlighted quality control issues that have shattered my confidence in this brand.

The Incident and Illness

I served a tub of Salmon Brunch from my latest delivery that, once warmed to room temperature, released a pungent, severely rancid fat odour. My dogs instinctively refused it after a few bites.

One dog vomited and was lethargic that night. Both experienced loose stools and a 24 hour period of food refusal. One of my dogs is at high risk for acute pancreatitis. For her, ingesting rancid fat or the resulting self-imposed fast could have easily triggered a fatal flare. The stress, fear, and heartbreak of watching your beloved pets suffer because of the food you chose to feed them is something I wouldn't wish on any loving pet guardian.

The Traceability Contradiction

Upon checking my remaining stock to find batch codes, the issues multiplied:

• The Salmon tub label ink wiped completely clean after washing.

• None of the remaining tubs featured a traceable batch number anywhere on the packaging.

• Multiple Herby Turkey tubs carried an explicit stamp reading: "EXP 10/09/23".

Nutriwolds frequently highlights its "exceptional traceability" and makes a lot of noise about tracing meat back to the exact farm. However, knowing the farm means nothing if there is no batch number on the final product and no legible expiry date on the tubs. True traceability requires factory-level safety precision. Pet guardians should not have to play detective with illegible expiration dates on food containers.

The Corporate Response

The manufacturer investigated and confirmed a labelling error on a 100kg batch of the Salmon. Their handling of the overall situation was deeply disappointing. Despite being looped into the initial email discussion by the retailer (Stef's Pet Pantry) Nutriwolds chose not to keep me looped into the correspondence. It was left entirely to me to track down and contact the parent company directly to receive any answers.

The company took a defensive stance regarding the 2023 print—claiming their printer 'unfortunately' made 2026 look like 2023—showing a failure in safe labelling and transparency. If a customer cannot reliably read a safety stamp on raw meat, it is a quality defect, not a customer misunderstanding.

Akela also dismissed the rancid odour as normal and "natural" and my dogs' illness as unlikely to have been caused by their food and possibly to have been caused by a failure on my part. I acknowledge that since I threw out the rancid food, it cannot be submitted for testing. However, anyone who knows fish knows that a lack of pungency is a primary freshness indicator. There is a massive, unmistakable difference between the smell of rancid fat and a normal "fishy" odour. Anyone with a basic knowledge of food safety also knows that properly handled frozen food should not smell rancid and will inevitably cause gastro-intestinal irritation if consumed.  Something went wrong somewhere in the supply chain.

Conclusion

Never in 10 years of raw feeding have I encountered a product that was clearly so severely oxidised. In all that decade, I have never once had an incident of foodborne illness in my dogs. I am genuinely stunned by the quality control issues surrounding this premium brand.

I truly hope Nutriwolds uses this as a turning point to drastically improve their factory oversight and batch traceability. I take no pleasure in walking away from their brand, but as any caring and savvy pet guardian will agree, the safety of our pets must always come first. Sadly, we will not be returning.

UPDATE (June 2026): The manufacturer has confirmed they currently use a handheld pricing gun to stamp safety dates, which caused the "2023" misprint. The Herby Turkey tubs I received were therefore not expired. The company are reviewing their labelling system. They have also stated that the rancidity I noted may have been caused by temperature fluctuations after the food left their direct custody in the supply chain. I appreciate their investigation and their move toward better labelling but my decision to move on is final. In the interests of safety, I will be purchasing raw pet food direct from manufacturers from now on.

Always friendly and helpful and amazing quality products

Great website, easy to navigate and make your selections, fantastic product range for cats and dogs all natural products. Discounts for bulk buying and lots of choice, next day delivery and it really is next day mine was delivered in less than 24 hours. The food itself is of a very high quality and that reflects in the dogs stools, very little waste on normal feeding because the dog is absorbing all the goodness. Would definitely recommend Akela, it might be a little more expensive than other brands but the quality speaks for itself and makes it well worth it. Happy healthy dog 😃

Fabulous foods both Akela and Country Kibble and lovely staff, very helpful. Quick delivery and my dogs are loving the Suffolk Duck flavour and the Fish Feast flavour Akela in particular. Have fed both foods for msny years. Have recommended this food to many people.

I have used Akela for over a decade. I'm done with them.

They’ve increased the door-to-door price by 24.5%, and the bag price by 18.4% compared with six months ago. Even in periods of higher UK food inflation, typical increases are around 4–6% annually, so this is insulting.

At the same time, the recipe has been reformulated. From comparing the old and new compositions, the change appears to shift the carbohydrates. There are some tiny improvements, including the use of chelated minerals instead of sulphates, removal of chickpeas, and an increase in fresh fish content.

However, the overall nutritional profile appears to have been adjusted down (seems like manufacture cost-cutting not passed on to the consumer) rather than clearly upgraded, while the price has increased. In my opinion, the 'new recipe' is used to justify the insane amount. It's not an upgrade.

Also, I already give the dogs joint supplements, so those increases in Glucosamine, Chondroitin and MSM without consultation annoy me.

I'm looking elsewhere.

These views are my own. Yours may differ. Do your own research.

Update: I can see they're now arguing against the huge price increase (and keep adjusting their reply since). Don't take my word for it, look for yourselves. Even knocking off the £3 delivery charge (that used to be free) that's no doubt 'out of their control' there's still a huge jump in price that's 4x standard inflation. If they can't come clean about these massive price increases, then it reinforces my point.

I spent a lot of time researching the correct dosage and ensuring the highest possible quality in joint supplements, now for Akela to undermine that and jump in to include more, of unknown quality, without consultation, is irritating to say the least, and also undermines my vet's advice.

Akela has not stated source, molecular weight, or purity of their joint actives. Chondroitin in particular varies enormously in quality on the bulk ingredient market; low-MW marine chondroitin is bioavailable, low-grade bovine trachea derivative often isn't. Without a CoA I can't tell which I'm getting. I did a lot of research to make sure my dogs get the exact amount of high quality joint supplements.

In my opinion, and from what I can see, Akela have effectively imposed a supplement choice on owners without vet consultation.

The new recipe seems to have also lost probiotics, lost declared copper/selenium supplementation, dehydrated salmon was removed, slight protein drop, calorie density up, which is important because I weigh the food carefully to ensure my dogs' proper weights.

The overall losses outweigh any gains, as far as I'm concerned.

I will not waste my time having them argue every point when, in my opinion, they've gone against everything I valued in their products from the start. No amount of "but, but, but" can justify the price increase and additional joint supplements. It's not up to them to 'police' owners. I'm glad I took the time to read their 'updated' ingredients. If I now have to mix the new recipe with the old to ensure my dogs' stable digestion, I might as well feed them an alternative brand.

This is all my own opinion from using Akela for over a decade. As I say, the biggest thing is they've imposed a high-dose joint supplement on customers who didn't ask for it, with no quality disclosure. They've taken away my control over a part of my dogs' nutrition that I specifically optimised. Their statement "remain within recognised safe nutritional guidelines" is in my view, misleading, and not theirs to make. I'm not prepared to have them push up the joint supplements so high.

Again, this is all my opinion and I used to value Akela highly. I'm so disappointed in them. Such a shame.

My dogs' health comes first.

I have been hunting high and low to find something that suits my cocker. Fish feast has finally allowed her to gain weight with normal stools. We are on our second bag but will but the first of many!
We have three dogs and now suits all of them. Delivery is unbelievable too!

Always great service

Our dog really enjoyed the tinned Akela dog food, particularly the Kangaroo and Spring Lamb.
The ordering process was relatively straightforward and the convenience of free pick up for Lowestoft was an added bonus.

Good quality food. Puppy loves it. Quick and easy to order. Very next day delivery.

Great quality food with no fillers. Always a quick delivery

Quick and easy to order. Super fast delivery and fantastic food for my dog. Excellent.

Speedy dispatch and delivery. My dog loves this stuff.

Great food cat growing well on it

Great product with good service re well packaged swift delivery. My dogs thrive on Akela Whole Prey

Easy to order on line and quick free delivery. Good discount when you buy large quantity. Good selection even though our golden can't have chicken or grains.

Super high quality food at a decent price.