Fromm vs Orijen Dog Food Comparison 2021

No doubt you’ve heard of both brands, but which one is better?

When you compare Fromm vs Orijen, a few things pop out at your right away. Fromm has a deep history going back to the late 1940s, while Orijen is a younger company, established in 1985. Another big difference is that Fromm has much more variety, and Orijen is a grain-free-only brand. And the last thing you’ll notice is the price difference — Orijen is one of the priceless dog foods on the market.

But beyond experience, recipe variety, and price are other factors, like nutritional value, product safety, and the ingredients used in each recipe. We’ll go over all of the above points to get to the nitty-gritty details. In the battle of Fromm vs Orijen dog food — who will come out on top?

Let’s see!

The first Fromm moved to the US in the middle of the 1900s. At the turn of the 20th century, the family began breeding foxes. This first foray into animal breeding would evolve into what five generations of Fromms have been busy doing — helping animals. In the 1940s, they began researching how to create a complete and balanced dry dog food while incorporating large-scale feeding trials to guarantee the food was palatable, safe, and nutritious.

All of that experience and effort culminated in the first bag of Fromm Complete Dog Meal sold in 1949. As the decades progressed, so did the family’s interest in dog food. They grew from a small manufacturing facility into a massive plant, producing specialized diets and, eventually, the brand’s current product line of premium dry and wet dog food as well as dog treats.

Fromm is based in Wisconsin, and since 2014, they’ve organized the Fromm PetFest, where both pets and pet owners can take part in activities, training clinics, and much more. In case you’re interested, admission is generally free (so is parking).

Fromm offers almost 80 different dog foods, including 33 types of dry food, 34 types of wet food, and 12 types of dog treats. To compare their products to Orijen, we chose a puppy, adult, and adult grain-free formula.

Fromm Classic Puppy

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The first five ingredients are Chicken, Chicken Meal, Pearled Barley, and Oatmeal, Menhaden Fish Meal. The complete/balanced recipe includes probiotics and the entire spectrum of vitamins and minerals required for dogs. It’s available in 15lb and 33lb bags and contains 400 calories per cup.

Crude Protein: 28% min

Crude Fat: 14% min

Crude Fiber: 4.5% max

Fromm Adult Gold

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The first five ingredients are Chicken, Chicken Meal, Chicken Broth, Oat Groats, and Pearled Barley. Formulated for adult dogs of all shapes and sizes (kibble is about the size of a dime), highly digestible, and includes a proprietary blend of probiotics. Contains 418 calories per cup and comes in 5 lb, 15 lb, and 33 lb bags.

Crude Protein: 25% min

Crude Fat: 16% min

Crude Fiber: 5.5% max

Fromm Heartland Gold Adult

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The first five ingredients are Beef, Pork Meat and Bone Meal, Peas, Lentils, and Chickpeas. The grain-free recipe is rich in nutrients and, like all Fromm dog food, contains probiotics for easy digestion. Comes in 4lb, 12lb, and 26lb bags and contains 409 calories/cup.

Crude Protein: 24% min

Crude Fat: 16% min

Crude Fiber: 6% max

Fromm Pros

• Affordable
• High-quality ingredients
• Animal protein is always the #1 ingredient
• A large variety of recipes
• Grain-free and grain-inclusive varieties of dry/wet food
• Fromm or Orijen

Fromm Cons

• Lack of specialized diets

Read our full Fromm Dog Food Review.

Orijen is a premium dog food brand that “orijenated” in Canada and now has facilities in Kentucky. In case you missed the hint, Orijen is pronounced the same as the word origin. The parent company that produces Orijen is called Champion Petfoods. They began in 1985 as a small pet food business, and since then, have grown into one of the most well-known brands on the market.

Orijen positions itself as producing dog food that’s as close to a wolf’s diet as possible. What does that mean? We’ll go into detail on this later, but for now, suffice to say, their dog food contains mostly protein from animal sources, including meat, organs, and eggs.

All Orijen foods are grain-free (as per the wolf diet), and as far as we know, they don’t plan on making a grain-inclusive option. If you’re in the know and DCM isn’t some esoteric abbreviation for you, check out our product safety section for the latest info. And if DCM doesn’t sound familiar, make sure to read our product safety section.

For being in the business for nearly 40 years, Orijen has relatively few products. Just nine dry foods, six wet foods, and seven types of doggie treats. Since Orijen is grain-free exclusive, we chose a puppy formula, adult formula, and fish recipe to help you decide between Fromm or Orijen dog food.

Orijen Puppy

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The first five ingredients of Orijen foods come from animal sources and are either raw or fresh. Orijen’s Puppy formula is made and sourced in the USA, contains Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids, and is high in protein and fat. Includes all the vital nutrients a puppy needs to live a happy puppy life. Comes in 12oz, 4.5lb, 13lb, and 25lb bags.

Crude Protein: 38% min

Crude Fat: 20% min

Crude Fiber: 6% max

Orijen Original

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Contains 85% quality animal ingredients. The formula was created for adult dogs and includes joint-supporting nutrients and omega fatty acids to support every nutritional need, plus mobility and skin/coat health. Comes in 12oz, 4.5lb, 13lb, and 25lb bags.

Crude Protein: 38% min

Crude Fat: 18% min

Crude Fiber: 4% max

Orijen Six Fish

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The first nine ingredients are some type of fish product (either raw/fresh or fish meal). The Six Fish recipe is intended for all life stages, including puppies, adults, and senior dogs. It contains omega fatty acids, probiotics, and Chondroitin/Glucosamine. Comes in 12oz, 4.5lb, 13lb, and 25lb bags.

Crude Protein: 38% min

Crude Fat: 18% min

Crude Fiber: 4% max

Orijen Pros

• Highest quality of ingredients
• Made in the USA
• Transparency about suppliers
• The first 5 ingredients come from animal sources
• Product line includes freeze-dried food

Orijen Cons

• Pricey
• Lack of specialized diets

Read our full Orijen Dog Food Review.

To learn which is better Fromm or Orijen, we’ll start with the types of dog food offered by both companies and the various recipes that are available.

Fromm has three dog food product lines. Here are the dry food options currently available.

• Gold
  • Heartland Gold — Grain-free red meat recipes
  • Gold Coast — Grain-free ocean fish recipes
  • Original Gold — Grain-inclusive poultry-based recipes
• Classic — Poultry-based recipes for all life stages (including a weight management formula)
• Four-star — Variety of dry & wet dog foods and treats recipes made with meat, fish, fruits and veggies, and the famous Wisconsin cheese.
  • Beef Frittata Veg Recipe
  • Chicken À La Veg Recipe
  • Chicken au Frommage Recipe
  • Duck À La Veg Recipe
  • Game Bird Recipe
  • Hasen Duckenpfeffer Recipe
  • Highlander Beef, Oats, 'n Barley Recipe
  • Lamb & Lentil Recipe
  • Pork & Applesauce Formula
  • Pork & Peas Recipe
  • Rancherosa
  • Salmon À La Veg Recipe
  • Salmon Tunalini Recipe
  • Surf & Turf Recipe
  • Whitefish & Potato Formula
  • Zealambder Recipe

Fromm’s wet food lineup includes Four-Star, Pâté, Frommbalaya, and Remedies product lines.

• Four-Star
  • Shredded Beef in Gravy Entrée
  • Shredded Chicken in Gravy Entrée
  • Shredded Pork in Gravy Entrée
  • Shredded Turkey in Gravy Entrée
• Pâté
  • Beef & Barley Pâté
  • Beef, Chicken, & Oats Pâté
  • Beef & Sweet Potato Pâté
  • Chicken Pâté
  • Chicken & Duck Pâté
  • Chicken & Rice Pâté
  • Chicken, Salmon, & Oats Pâté
  • Chicken & Sweet Potato Pâté
  • Duck À La Veg Pâté
  • Game Bird Pâté
  • Lamb Pâté
  • Lamb & Sweet Potato Pâté
  • Pork & Brown Rice Pâté
  • Salmon & Brown Rice Pâté
  • Salmon & Chicken Pâté
  • Seafood Medley Pâté
  • Surf & Turf Pâté
  • Turkey Pâté
  • Turkey, Duck, & Sweet Potato Pâté
  • Turkey & Pumpkin Pâté
  • Venison & Beef Pâté
  • Venison & Lentil Pâté
  • Whitefish & Lentil Pâté
• Frommbalaya
  • Beef, Vegetable, & Rice Stew
  • Chicken, Vegetable, & Rice Stew
  • Lamb, Vegetable, & Rice Stew
  • Pork, Vegetable, & Rice Stew
  • Turkey, Vegetable, & Rice Stew
• Remedies
  • Chicken Formula
  • Whitefish Formula

Orijen doesn’t have any product lines, and all its foods are grain-free.

Orijen dry foods include:

• Puppy
• Puppy Large
• Small Breed
• Original
• Six Fish
• Regional Red
• Tundra
• Fit & Trim
• Senior

Orijen’s line of wet foods is a little more specific with what to expect:

• Puppy Poultry & Fish Pâté Recipe
• Original Stew Recipe with Chicken, Turkey & Eggs
• Chicken Recipe Stew with Shredded Chicken & Eggs
• Beef Recipe Stew with Shredded Beef & Eggs
• Regional Red Stew with Shredded Beef & Lamb
• Tundra Stew Recipe with Shredded Beef, Duck & Lamb

Both brands offer a decent variety. However, Fromm beats Orijen by the numbers.

Winner: Fromm

No Fromm dog food vs Orijen dog food comparison would be complete without looking at the nutrition facts. But one thing many reviews neglect to factor in is the dry matter basis. Not every dry or wet food has the same moisture content, meaning the numbers for protein, fat, and fiber could be skewed in favor of a food that has less.

Fromm dry foods have 10% moisture, and Orijen dry foods have 12% moisture. To convert to a dry matter basis, we calculated and adjusted the numbers according to a formula.

Orijen takes this category hands-down. But just to be clear, both brands adhere to AAFCO standards.

Winner: Orijen

It’s difficult to judge the quality of the ingredients without taking the brand’s word for it. For example, Orijen uses 85% protein in their ingredients. More often than not, over half of the ingredients are animal proteins like Beef, Bison, Boar, Chicken, Deer, Duck, Eggs, Fish, Goat, Lamb, Pork, Turkey, and Venison.

Orijen claims to use only what they call free-run chickens and turkeys (meaning they’re not housed in cages), the fresh ingredients that go into their dog foods are preserved using only refrigeration, and raw ingredients are shipped to them frozen to preserve flavors and nutrients.

Fromm compared to Orijen, uses Beef, Chicken, Duck, Goose, Lamb, Pheasant, Pork, Quail, Rabbit, Salmon, Tuna, Turkey, Venison, and Whitefish. Fromm doesn’t have the same quality of ingredients from what we could find. They’re adamant about keeping production facilities safe and clean, and they thoroughly test the ingredients and foods before shipping them.

Although Fromm has one more protein source than Orijen, the quality and number of proteins included in each dog food are clearly in favor of Orijen.

Winner: Orijen

Since Fromm isn’t available on any of the major online retailers like Amazon, Chewy, PetCo, Target or Walmart, unlike Orijen, we looked at prices on gofromm.com.

Orijen or Fromm dog food — the dog food pricing wars

Not much of a battle here. Fromm is more affordable while having a larger variety, albeit less protein content.

Winner: Fromm

If you haven’t heard about canine dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), we’ll give you a short introduction. Otherwise, you can skip to the next paragraph. DCM is a condition where the heart muscle becomes enlarged, which leads to the heart not being able to pump blood effectively. As you can guess, this condition may be fatal. Before the news about DCM broke, it was considered genetic (mostly found in large breeds). However, reports filed by pet owners, vets, and veterinary cardiologists point to a non-hereditary cause (possibly diet-related).

We know there’s tons of speculation and skepticism surrounding grain-free diets. And while they’re still considered the main culprit by the pet food community, the FDA has clearly stated that their research has shown non-hereditary DCM associated with grain-free and grain-inclusive diets. They get even more specific by saying that most of the diets have legumes such as peas and lentils high up in the ingredient lists. While it’s true that many grain-free diets include more legumes, the FDA has not seen enough evidence to recall any products on the market.

Millions of dogs eat grain-free and don’t experience any symptoms of DCM or any problems whatsoever, so it seems that more research is needed to get to the bottom of this problem. To be clear, the FDA has received 1,100 case reports of DCM in dogs and 280 deaths associated with DCM (between January 1, 2014, and July 31, 2020)

Orijen hasn’t had a single recall to date (May 2021), while Fromm had one recall in 2016. They recalled three varieties of 12 oz wet dog food due to elevated levels of Vitamin D.

Winner: Orijen

As you can see, it came down to the wire, and the winner is Orijen. While having less variety than Fromm and being significantly more expensive, it won out in nutritional content, ingredients and flavors, and product safety and the number of recalls.

Orijen vs Fromm or any other dog food comparison is meaningless if your dog doesn’t like it. Orijen is high-end, and not everyone’s budget can accommodate that. Fromm, on the other hand, is affordable, and the quality is there, too.

Weigh your options of what’s important to you — a pricy, natural, high-protein diet or an affordable, natural, average-protein diet.