The scores
Diamond Naturals Adult Chicken & Rice: B (78/100) — Chicken, Chicken Meal, Whole Grain Brown Rice, Cracked Pearled Barley, White Rice.
Purina Pro Plan Savor Shredded Blend: C (58/100) — Chicken, Rice, Whole Grain Wheat, Poultry By-Product Meal, Whole Grain Corn.
How the ingredients compare
Here are the first five ingredients on each label — the part of the panel that drives most of the score under our published rubric:
Diamond Naturals: Chicken, Chicken Meal, Whole Grain Brown Rice, Cracked Pearled Barley, White Rice
Purina Pro Plan: Chicken, Rice, Whole Grain Wheat, Poultry By-Product Meal, Whole Grain Corn
Both panels lead with real Chicken, so the separation happens in slots two through five. Diamond Naturals follows with Chicken Meal — a second named, concentrated protein source our rubric rewards — then Whole Grain Brown Rice, Cracked Pearled Barley, and White Rice, all whole-grain carbohydrates with no penalized fillers among them. Pro Plan Savor instead runs Rice, then Whole Grain Wheat, Poultry By-Product Meal, and Whole Grain Corn. That is three rubric penalties clustered high: wheat, a generic poultry by-product meal sitting in the top five, and corn. Where Diamond stacks a second named meat against clean grains, Pro Plan dilutes its strong chicken opener with exactly the ingredient classes the scoring docks — which is why a 20-point spread opens between two foods that share an identical first ingredient.
Where Diamond Naturals pulls ahead
A cleaner panel at roughly half the price: Diamond Naturals Adult Chicken & Rice (B/78) pairs the value math with the better structure, which is unusual. It opens with Chicken and Chicken Meal — fresh muscle meat plus a concentrated named meal — and contains no corn, wheat, soy, or by-product meal anywhere in the formula, clearing the rubric’s heaviest penalties outright. At roughly $1.05–$1.25 per pound, it runs close to half the cost of many premium bags while scoring a full tier higher than Pro Plan’s C/58. For a multi-dog or large-breed household feeding several cups a day, that per-pound gap compounds fast over a year. If you want the most named protein and the fewest fillers your budget can buy, this is the structural value pick — and it is easy to find when you go looking. Shop on Amazon →
Functional extras and broad value retail: Beyond the named-protein lead, Diamond Naturals layers in a K9-strain probiotic and a superfood package, the kind of functional additions our rubric credits when they sit on an already-clean base — here they do. You are not paying a premium markup for those adds, either. Distribution is genuinely wide: Tractor Supply, PetSmart, Petco, Chewy, and Amazon all carry it, so the value does not come with a hunt-it-down tax. That Tractor Supply footprint in particular puts it within reach of rural and suburban buyers who may not have a specialty pet store nearby. For owners who want guaranteed-clean ingredients, a probiotic, and a price that does not punish daily feeding, Diamond covers all three without forcing a trade-off between quality and cost.
Family-owned U.S. manufacturing with a long clean run: Diamond Naturals is made by Diamond Pet Foods, a family-owned American manufacturer that also produces Taste of the Wild, 4Health, and Costco’s Kirkland line — meaning real plant scale and recipe experience sit behind the bag. In fairness, Diamond did have a multi-brand recall years ago tied to its Gaston, South Carolina plant in 2012; it has since remediated and posted a long clean stretch, which is the honest full picture. The upside of that manufacturing breadth is consistency and buying power that help hold the price down without thinning the formula. For a buyer weighing a value brand, knowing a large, established U.S. maker with a now-lengthy clean record stands behind it is a meaningful reassurance, not a leap of faith.
Where Purina Pro Plan holds its own
Real chicken first and shredded-piece palatability: Purina Pro Plan Savor Shredded Blend (C/58) earns genuine credit where it counts most for finicky dogs: its first ingredient is real Chicken, and its signature move is mixing tender shredded pieces in with the crunchy kibble. That texture contrast is a real palatability lever — plenty of picky eaters who turn up their nose at uniform kibble will clean a Savor bowl, and getting a dog to actually eat is half the battle. The shredded format also makes it an easy sell for owners transitioning a reluctant dog onto a complete-and-balanced diet. If your dog is the kind who needs convincing at mealtime, that texture engineering is a legitimate reason Pro Plan stays on the table even against a higher-scoring panel. Shop on Amazon →
Vet-channel trust and find-it-anywhere availability: Pro Plan is Purina’s premium vet-channel line, and that standing carries real weight — many veterinarians recommend it by name, and for owners who anchor on clinical familiarity, that trust is not nothing. Purina also brings batch-to-batch consistency from a deep manufacturing base, so the bag you buy in January matches the one in July. Availability is a quiet strength too: between mass retail and pet specialty, you can find Pro Plan almost anywhere, including stores that stock few other premium options. For a household that values a vet’s blessing, predictable formulation, and never having to special-order their dog’s food, those are durable advantages even though the core Savor panel scores a tier below Diamond.
A deep SKU range you can step up into: Where Pro Plan really separates from a single value formula is breadth — the lineup is enormous, and several specialized SKUs score better than the Savor base. Step up to Sport 30/20 for a higher-protein, performance-oriented build, or to Sensitive Skin & Stomach with salmon for dogs that do poorly on poultry or have GI sensitivities, and you land on cleaner, higher-scoring formulas than the C/58 Shredded Blend reviewed here. That ladder matters: a buyer who starts with Pro Plan and hits a specific need can stay in-brand and move up rather than switching ecosystems entirely. For owners who want one trusted reputation with a SKU for nearly every life stage and sensitivity, that range is a real, practical edge.
The bottom line
Diamond Naturals Adult Chicken & Rice (B/78) is the better structural fit, beating Purina Pro Plan Savor Shredded Blend (C/58) by 20 points — a full grade tier — while costing roughly half as much per pound. Its Chicken-plus-Chicken-Meal lead and complete absence of corn, wheat, soy, and by-product meal clear exactly the penalties that cap Pro Plan at C. Buy Diamond if you want the strongest named-protein panel for the money, value functional adds like its K9 probiotic, and have a dog that tolerates poultry well. Buy Pro Plan if your dog is a picky eater won over by its shredded pieces, if your vet recommends it specifically, or if you want a deep SKU range you can step up into — Sport or Sensitive Skin & Stomach both score higher than this base Savor formula. If you are cross-shopping value-natural brands, also see our Diamond Naturals vs Blue Buffalo breakdown.