The scores
The Farmer's Dog Chicken Recipe: A (90/100) — Chicken, chicken liver, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, chia seeds, salmon oil. Legume-free.
Ollie Fresh Beef Recipe with Sweet Potato: A (90/100) — Beef, carrots, beef kidneys, potatoes, peas, sweet potatoes, beef livers, chickpeas, spinach.
Both brands sit at A/90 under the Fresh Food Rubric v1.0. Note that we’re comparing different proteins: Farmer’s Dog’s chicken variant vs. Ollie’s beef variant. Ollie also offers a chicken recipe, but Ollie’s core published formulation uses the beef recipe as its flagship. The cross-protein comparison surfaces the real structural differences between the brands’ formulation philosophies.
How the ingredients compare
Farmer’s Dog Chicken: Chicken, chicken liver, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, chia seeds, salmon oil, then the supplement tail. Six food ingredients before supplements. Legume-free. Cruciferous-vegetable-dominant carbohydrate profile.
Ollie Fresh Beef: Beef, carrots, beef kidneys, potatoes, peas, sweet potatoes, beef livers, chickpeas, spinach, then the supplement tail. Nine food ingredients before supplements. Two legumes (peas at position five, chickpeas at position eight). Two organ meats (kidneys plus liver).
The structural difference is clear: Farmer’s Dog runs tighter recipes with cruciferous vegetables; Ollie runs denser recipes with broader starch and legume layering, plus a deeper organ meat inclusion.
Where The Farmer's Dog Chicken pulls ahead
Legume-free formulation: No chickpeas, no lentils, no peas. For DCM-predisposed breeds (Golden Retrievers, Doberman Pinschers, Boxers, Great Danes, Cocker Spaniels), the complete absence of pulse-based carbohydrates is a meaningful safety-margin advantage over Ollie’s two-legume top-ten. Even with Ollie’s taurine supplementation, owners of these breeds often prefer the structural avoidance.
Shorter panel: Six food ingredients vs. nine. Fewer ingredients isn’t automatically better, but in fresh foods specifically, tighter recipes reduce formulation complexity and leave less room for low-value filler candidates.
Cruciferous vegetable density: Broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts at positions three through five is a specific cruciferous-forward formulation that no other mainstream fresh-food brand matches. Cruciferous vegetables contribute glucosinolates, vitamin K, folate, and fiber. Shop on Amazon →
Where Ollie holds its own
Dual organ stack: Beef kidneys at position three plus beef livers at position seven gives Ollie two distinct organ meats. Kidney contributes selenium and B-vitamins; liver adds vitamin A, B12, iron, and copper. Farmer’s Dog Chicken has chicken liver alone — one organ vs. Ollie’s two.
Higher calorie density: The beef-plus-tubers-plus-legumes configuration on Ollie delivers more calories per gram than Farmer’s Dog Chicken’s cruciferous-plus-chia profile. For high-activity dogs, hard-keeper dogs, or dogs struggling to maintain weight, Ollie’s energy density is an advantage.
Protein variety in lineup: Ollie offers beef, chicken, turkey, and lamb in the Fresh line plus a baked dry kibble alternative. Farmer’s Dog offers beef, chicken, turkey, and pork. Both brands offer enough variety for rotation feeding; Ollie adds the baked dry-kibble option that Farmer’s Dog doesn’t have. Shop on Amazon →
The bottom line
This is a tie at A/90 on measurable ingredient quality — the decision hinges on legume preference and organ-meat preference. For DCM-predisposed breeds where legume avoidance is a priority, Farmer’s Dog Chicken is the cleaner pick. For nutritional density with dual organ-meat inclusion, Ollie Fresh is the stronger nutrient-density play. Pricing is comparable at $3–6 per day for a medium dog on either subscription. For a cross-brand same-protein comparison, Ollie also offers a chicken recipe worth evaluating against Farmer’s Dog Chicken directly.