Nature’s Goodness Dog Food Review

ManufacturerReal Pet Food Co
Country of originAustralia
Available fromColes & Woolworths

Nature’s Goodness is a brand of dog food found on the shelves of Coles & Woolworths where it’s been for many years now. It’s one brand of many from our biggest churner-outer of pet food – The Real Pet Food Co. They also make supermarket home brands, which begs the question is Nature’s Goodness any better?

In our Nature’s Goodness dog food review we’ll take a look at the “Grainfree Nutrition” variety, although you’ll also see wet foods and rolls on the supermarket shelves.

Nature’s Goodness Grainfree Nutrition review

What the marketing says

The website for Nature’s Goodness Pet Food spurts out loads of claims about the products maximising your dogs energy levels with a holistic blend of natural ingredients so your dog can get the most out of life.

They say they don’t include unnecessary fillers, how zero grains equals maximum vitality, quality meat, immune support, healthy digestion, healthy skin, glossy coat, and yada yada yada.

Nature's Goodness Dog Food Review

The trouble is all these statements are unregulated and don’t even need to be true given our voluntary Australian pet food standards. They can also be a little misleading – what does natural mean anyhow? What are unnecessary fillers and what are deemed necessary (and why?). What is quality meat?

Some other brands by this manufacturer are swamped in negative reviews on numerous Australian websites with mention of sickness and diarrhoea, so is Nature’s Goodness Grainfree Nutrition any different?

What the ingredients really say

For this review we’ll delve into the Nature’s Goodness Grainfree Nutrition Chicken with Lamb & Garden Vegetables formula. Consider other formulas in the dry dog food range very similar – in fact more similar than you would expect.

The first ingredient in this dog food is meat and meat by-products (poultry, beef and lamb) and poultry by-product. That’s quite a mouthful and slightly ambiguous. Aussie pet food regs state the word with must mean some small amount of that ingredient in the food, so with lamb means there doesn’t need to be much lamb.

It’s likely the first ingredient is some concoction of whatever meat or carcass can be sourced cheaply. Your guess is as good as mine, but I’m sure the cheap factor is the most prominent.

You’ll note above I said first ingredient rather than main ingredient. Ingredients are listed in order of percentage, so it’s possible the second ingredient is used in the same amount. That ingredient, listed on the label as “garden vegetables” is vegetables and vegetable meals (peas and/or lentils, soy, carrots, garlic, tomato, pumpkin).

Nature's Goodness Dog Food Review

As another ambiguous list of possibilities we can assume once again it’s whatever can be sourced cheaply. Yes, these vegetables can be grown in your garden, but I’m sure this isn’t the case in Nature’s Gift dog food. As The Real Pet Food Co doesn’t have acres of lush gardens to grow prime pet food ingredients this will more likely by whatever’s left over from human food production.

Tapioca and/or potato starches as the third ingredient might be in the same proportion as the previous two, which makes the meat part far less significant than you could be led to believe. We mentioned earlier about unnecessary fillers, so why isn’t tapioca and potato starch unnecessary? It’s not overly nutritious for your dog, but in terms of kibble it can be deemed necessary to bake it into hard lumps.

To wrap up our Nature’s Goodness dog food review we’ll mention a couple of ingredients near the bottom of the list. Essential vitamins and minerals means they’ve included the bare minimum to meet AAFCO standards (AAFCO is an American pet food regulation). They haven’t gone above and beyond to provide your pet with anything more than the minimum.

Nature's Goodness Dog Food Review

The last ingredient we’ll mention is natural antioxidants. Feel free to dig around on Google to find out what on earth this might be, but ask yourself “What do they mean by natural?” and “Why aren’t they willing to disclose what this ingredient really is?”.

What about the other Nature’s Goodness dog food formulas?

Next time you’re in Coles or Woolworths, take a look at the ingredients of the entire range. You may laugh, because they’re almost identical – meat/meat by-products and vegetables/vegetable meals. The wild game formula is the most different as they’ve included readily cheap and available kangaroo as part of the meat concoction.

Even Nature’s Goodness Grainfree Nutrition Puppy has a formula which is nearly identical. It does, however, have a fraction more protein (either from meat or vegetables, who knows?).

A short summary

You can argue the case Nature’s Goodness Grainfree Nutrition is better than home brands which come from the same facility, but the quality of all ingredients is suspect and likely cheap. If this is the best brand of dog food you can afford then do your dog a favour and feed some fresh meats, organs, and raw meaty bones alongside – stuff like this is often reduced at the supermarket, often works out cheaper, and is likely better for your dog.

Are there any positives? Well okay, yes, there’s more protein in Nature’s Goodness Grainfree Nutrition than others on the supermarket shelves.

We hope our Nature’s Goodness dog food review has been informative – let us know in the comments if it has!

Where to buy Natures Goodness dog food?

Nature’s Gift dog food (dry food, wet food, and rolls) is available at Coles and Woolworths.

Ingredients

The ingredients of Natures Goodness dog food (Chicken with Lamb & Garden Vegetables) as of October 2021:

Meat and Meat By-Products (Poultry, Beef and Lamb) and Poultry By-Product, Vegetables and Vegetable Meals (Peas and/or Lentils, Soy, Carrots, Garlic, Tomato, Pumpkin), Tapioca and/or Potato Starches, Poultry Fat Stabilised with Natural Mixed Tocopherols, Beet Pulp, Whole Oil Seeds (Linseed and/or Canola), Salt, Potassium Chloride, Chicory Root Inulin, Choline, Chloride, Essential Vitamins and Minerals, Natural Antioxidants, Yucca, Kelp Meal, Egg Powder.

Guaranteed Analysis

The guaranteed analysis of Natures Goodness dog food (Chicken with Lamb & Garden Vegetables) as of October 2021:

Protein(min) 28%
Fat(min) 14%
Crude Fibre(max) 3%
Carbohydrates *Estimated 40%
* May be estimated. Read how to calculate carbohydrates in a pet food.

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5 Total Score
Nature's Goodness Grainfree Nutrition - is it good?

PROS
  • High protein (but from meat or vegetables?)
CONS
  • Ambiguous ingredients
  • No assurances of quality
42 Comments
  1. Hello, advised by the Dingo people in Victoria to give Wild Game a go, moving from Hill’s Science diet as a puppy.

    Reasons were corn as a protein source at 31.7% in Hills is not easily digestible, grains and gluten in large amounts not a normal part of a ‘native’ carnivore diet and high fat content 27%.

    A thin Dingo is a fast Dingo and a fast Dingo is a happy Dingo because dingo’s are very competitive.

    With the protein animal based in Wild Game at 28% (a touch of Roo is good), low fat 14% and no grains as fillers and no gluten (another non available for digestion plant protein) she has stayed nice and lean. Often admired by dog owners at the beach for her condition and speed at which she outcompetes the Kelpie s for balls and in chasing each other games.

    Another byproduct is the stool does not smell much and is easy to handle – that’s the beetroot pulp I guess.

    Oh and by the way, if you know what you are doing, have infinite patience, know how to speak very quietly and politely when making requests, dingos can be domesticated and make great pets. Their love is as big as Uluru. But if you are inexperienced, want your ‘dog’ to do what it is told instantly because you are the boss, and will not seek and take the advice of Dingo experts then STAY AWAY, they are not for you or your environment.

    So it’s —- —- (dingo’s can bark they choose not to!) from Mirri the happiest dingo and her most pleased monkey evolved based companion.

  2. We have used the grainfree product for some time and it works for our chocolate labrador Benjamin. Sadly, it doesn’t work for me – the 20kg product is supposed to be in a resealable bag – but it is impossible to open the bag without ripping it, making the self sealing strip redundant. It’s a shame that when you contact the company they don’t even have the courtesy to respond.

  3. If I could give no stars I would.
    We got the natures goodness radiant coat .
    Made my dog so bloated , made her fart and they smelt terrible . Also gave her the runs !! Never again
    I felt so bad I’d down graded her to literally crap .

  4. I had to buy Natures Goodness 2.15kg Turkey and veg grain free roll – Baxters roll was the only other option (!) because of supply issues to WA. Cut the first 300g slice and immediately water shot out of the cut – about 3 tablespoons’ worth – all over me, my kitchen bench and my sense of humour! Of course! – that’s why I stopped buying it years ago, I’d almost forgotten how bad it was. Funny, the weight of the roll is a strange 2.15kg – the .15kg must be the weight of the water, even though it’s not listed as an ingredient!

  5. They have updated the Nature’s Goodness range now with new dry, new wet and new rolls. Keen for a review on the updated formula of dry food!

  6. We have had Beau on the tin (wet) food in this range mixed in with his kibble (Applaws) and a dash of water and a teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil. He loves it, all varieties and it’s a completely grain free meal for him at a low cost. Applaws being nearly a 5 star food according to this site and this being a 3 I think evens things out to a respectable combination. Applaws is also cheap at $5.32/kg when on special at either Coles or Woolworths, we stock up with 4 or 5 bags. It’s often on special at least every few weeks. Beau also has an amazing coat and teeth, we get comments from other dog owners all the time.

    • If your dog got the runs it’s because like with any change in diet of your dog you need to introduce the change gradually.
      My cavoodle puppy started on other food brands (wet and dry) and most of them gave him tears that stained his fur around the eyes. We tried various foods and finally the natures goodness grain free doesn’t give him tears and he loves the chicken with duck and the salmon one. He doesn’t like the lamb but that might just be his preference. I rate this food range very highly and the price is not a rip off either.

    • Hi yes the new VIP Grain Free Chicken & Duck bags has been tweak a bit but the other VIP Wild & Sweet Potato still has the old ingredients so you can compare between the 2 formula’s, I don’t know if I like the old or the new VIP formula, looks like they have just changed a few words instead of writting Tallow now they write chicken fat I like the egg, but it’s teh last ingredient, just wish it was within the first 6 ingredients, gee that’s cheap $8, there’s no need for people to be buying this “Baxters” poison when other pet foods are as cheap as $8 on special for 3kgs the VIP is on special $12 at Coles this week, I grabbed a bag today to try, since Ivory Coat is made at the same place I thought I’ll give it a go & rotate between TOTW & “Meals For Mutts” new CN Hypoallergenic Cool Fish formula & see which 1 Patch does the best on, I’m trying to feed Australian made now but we seem to always go back to his “Taste Of The Wild” Sierra Mountain Roasted Lamb formula….

      • I still much prefer a listed source of fat, tallow could be any type of fat skimmed from a vat at the very least chicken fat is a named fat. I prefer the new ingredients list to the old but the $8 you speak of is not VIP it’s My Dog, VIP was not currently on special it was almost $16.
        Egg as the last ingredient was indeed sad, there’s probably no more then a teaspoon of egg product in each bag, maybe even half a teaspoon.

        Baxter’s is almost in line with most of the other cheap stuff, it’s still much cheaper though and people see the $6 and think gee I don’t have to spend $16 for a bag, I can spend $6 and put that $10 towards something nice for myself from the candy or chips isle as that’s usually where the money goes. However while your indulging your senses with items your body doesn’t actually need your also poisioning your pets body with cheap trash. At that point your better off spending the $16 for Applaws or VIP and saving your own health and your pets.

        • I thought gee $8 is VERY CHEAP, I’ve never seen a G/F kibble for $8.. Woolworths Newcastle put their kibbles from worst to best on their shelves so probably cheapest to dearest, Baxters only has their Adult formula & Senior formula now there’s NO Puppy formula no more, probably killed TOO many puppies we just don’t know about it…. BUT gee I’d love to know WHO is making Baxter, it has to be one of the bigger pet food companies, then Good O’s is above the Baxters, then its Pedigree, then Purina then Optimum then the new formulas & G/F formula’s…..

      • Also I like how VIP write “Made on equipment also used to process grains & cereals” on the side of the kibble bag…

        • That could be issue causing for people’s pets with severe allergies to grains, not the best move on their part, but these kibble machines are huge and cost a lot of money, not everyone can have several got to be thankful for what they do have… lol

  7. Compared to what else is available from the Supermarkets the ingredients are good at a reasonable price. My 12yo Maltese Shitzu cross also likes it and she is fussy, I have been feeding her this food for 6 months and I have had no major issues with her poos (they are firm, but not hard). I would prefer feeding her a 5Star food, but I am a pensioner and they are not afforable.

    • There’s a lot of foods within good price ranges even for pensioners, just got to get onto pet circle or pet warehouse and research it’s a lot of fun to be honest but that’s also my opinion you might not find it fun at all.

      • I have looked at many of the 5 star foods available at both those stores and others, I’ve yet to find one that I would call an affordable price range ($5-$7/kg) for a small dog (need small bags), can you suggest any? Besides if my dog is doing well on this food why change?

        • Maybe what Pet Food Reviews said? I don’t think your going to really find any better foods for less than $5, I use generally pretty expensive brands and when I looked up the cheaper ones that came out recently their still $5 a kilo unfortunately.

          I also never said you should change, there seems to be a lot of this going on dog food advisor we even had a long standing member delete their account because of misunderstandings with everyone else, sometimes we just want to voice our opinions, are read wrong in the process and just can’t take being constantly read the wrong way.

          All she did was voice her opinion on a food and was met with a why should I change the food? When in reality she never said such thing in the first place.

          To be honest if this continues I wouldn’t be surprised if most of everyone on that website deletes their accounts.

        • Sorry, you miss understood me, I was really only asking if you knew of any 5star dog foods that were in my affordable range and that my dog was doing well on VIP. Your opinion is always appreciated.

        • Well it’s always good to tell people of recent mishaps in the world as well that way they can be careful with words in the future, I don’t know why everyone suddenly awol in the understandings department but they have and its left a lot of bad taste and hesitance to reply to them in fear your going to get yelled at for a comment that was never meant to bad in the first place.

          It’s happening all over dfa and especially online games, no one understands jokes anymore either, so I’ve stopped cracking them.

        • Pet Food Reviews November 26, 2016 at 7:58 pm

          Farmers Market at Woolworths might be worth looking at. You can also supplement a diet with fresh meats like mince, chicken necks, or even cans of tuna (in spring water) which are often really cheap in the supermarkets. I often by meats if they’re reduced for quick sale

        • Thank you for your suggestions. But Farmers Market has wheat and the same company makes VIP foods, so I don’t think there is any advantage? Wheat not good for my dog. If I was going to use a different food I would probably go for “Stay Loyal” as it is completely grain free. If I can work out how to make a large bag keep longer than a few months, that would make it affordable? May be splitting the bag up and re-distribute into vacuum sealed bags might work?

        • They now have a 3 kg bag for about $47

        • Hi they have a 7kg bag & I saw it at Woolworths for 25$ on special proper price is $30….the 3kg bags of VIP Natural Goodness is around $10-15$..
          It’s on special alot either Coles then Woolworths the following week.

        • Lisa-Maree Fletcher November 28, 2016 at 11:49 am

          Hi JustUncleL

          PetCircle.com.au have BlackHawk Fish & Potato on special at the moment – 20kg back for $99.95 which works out $5/kg There are grains in it, but from memory its brown rice, not wheat (you’d need to double check). Get a sample from BlackHawk or I just got one from my local Pet Produce store to ensure your furbaby likes it. You can also get the small bag first which will be more costly per kg, and then if its good for your dog get the 20kg and vacuum seal in smaller bags. The sale is on until end Feb 2017. If you have a chest freezer maybe you can store some in there also?
          🙂

        • Thank you for your suggestions. I have also received positive feedback from the manufacturer regarding repackaging into vacuum sealed bags to keep bulk food longer, they also suggested keeping the vacuum bags in a cool dark place. This is definitely a way to ensure a premium 5Star brand is viable for small dogs. Now I know this technique will probably work, my options are now broader and still stay within my budget. Just need to find one I think the fussy girl will like and preferably grain free, they seem to give her less digestion and skin issues.

  8. this food seems to be average at best. the poo stinks, is way too soft and too frequent. I would never use or recommend this food, i much prefer ivory coat. non descriptive ingredient lists are an indication of lack of quality.

  9. I have been buying VIP natures goodness , chicken and duck with garden vegetables ,grain free. Over the last couple of weeks the colour and size and smell of it has changed it is now much darker. And there is no explanation on the pack why it has changed..
    They also had a wild game flavour which wasn’t as popular and there was no way I would use that anyway. I rang to ask why the chicken and duck had changed colour and was told they didn’t know. Apparently they have moved their dry dog food to DUBBO and when I heard that I wondered if the explosion in kangaroo populations in that area had prompted them to move there. I refuse to use any wild game products and because I didn’t get a satisfactory explanation I think they may be using kangaroo meat in the chicken and duck with vegetables and I would be HORRIFIED if that was the case. I am waiting for another call back from them.
    Has anyone else come across a similar situation it would explain why the product is now darker but I will give them the benefit of doubt but use another product till get a satisfactory answer.

    • Why the Real Pet Food Company moved to Dubbo Plant its a bigger Pet Food Plant, the Real Pet Food Company makes Ivory Coat, Black Hawk -(owned by Masterpet family), Natures Goodness & other Supermarket brands made at their Dubbo plant, they can just kill a kangaroos & put the meat into pet foods there’s a process.

    • Reply
      Pet Food Reviews (Australia) February 4, 2016 at 10:24 am

      Hi Judy, many manufacturers amend their recipes over time, switch suppliers of certain ingredients, or the ingredients themselves vary in consistency. Batches can vary. Let us know if you hear back from them.

  10. Found a full list on another shopping site

    Guaranteed Analysis
    Crude Protein Min 26.0%
    Crude Fat Min 14.0%
    Crude Fibre Max 5.0%
    Salt (Sodium Chloride) Max 1.2%
    Calcium Min 1.0%
    Phosphorous Min 0.8%
    Metabolizable Energy kcal/100g 350
    Ingredients:
    Meat (Poulty meat & meat,duck & meat meals), vegetables & vegetables meals (including potato, peas, carrots, pumpkin), potato & Tapioca starch, Tallows & oils (Poultry and Vegetable), Beet Pulp, Chicken Digest, Oil seeds (Canola & Linseed), Egg Powder, Salt, Potassium Chloride, Vitamins (A, D, E, B1, B5, B6, Niacin, Riboflavin, Folic Acid, B12) and Minerals (Calcium, Phosphorus, Iron, Zinc, Copper, Manganese, Iodine, Selenium), Kelp Meal, Choline Chloride, Soy Lecithin Powder, Dried Chicory Root, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Garlic Powder, Tomato Powder, Potassium Sorbate, Natural Antioxidants.

  11. retinas? I meant retains of course (unless it helps your dog’s eyesight too) 😉

  12. Kudos to VIP for a well distributed grain free food. Just a note on meat ‘meal’; quite often meal in dry dog food is superior to just meat as ingredients are listed in order of bulk on pet food labels. If fresh meat is listed it means it’s counted before it’s cooked. Once it’s cooked it loses much of its volume in water thus reducing the overall meat content. Meat meal is pre cooked so retinas its constituent value and is therefore preferable.

    That doesn’t give an indication of the type of meat included but that’s never available on pet food.

    A request to VIP, please include your ingredients on your website (e.g. I need to know how much crude fibre is in it). Not including an ingredients list looks like you’ve something to hide.

    Thanks for the review though!

    • Some dog food do include an ingredient list specifying meat sources, but expect to pay for it. Orijen and Acana (both made by the same company, Acana is a little cheaper) are good examples.

      • Reply
        Pet Food Reviews (Australia) April 26, 2016 at 9:51 am

        Orijen and Acana are both good foods but unfortunately not available in Australia. Orijen was for a while but they had issues with import regulations and radiation.

  13. I have recently tried incorporating this food into my dogs diet. I have a purebred lab and a labradoodle cross. I am transitioning from their previous dry food ‘pedigree’ and I have noticed that their poos are twice as soft with a lot of mucous and they are pooing twice as much. I found this to be quite odd particularly since this product is of a better quality than the pedigree. I will be trying OEM petfoods next, hopefully with better results.

    • Kathryn your dogs may have an food intolerance to a ingredient in the VIP, mucus or jelly poos is from something irritating their bowel….also the fat is 14% min so max fat % is about 16%, the fat may be higher in the VIP kibble, the Pedigree kibble may have been lower in fat & fiber…. Try & look for a new kibble that’s around the same amount as fat% & fiber% like the Pedigree had…. also look at the fat% & fiber% in the OEM Pet Food kibble it may be high as well….
      if you get stuck try “Meals For Mutts” they have a few kibbles with Salmon & Sardines or Kangaroo & Lamb & just brown rice & veggies & then they have their Grain Free kibbles….Meals For Mutts is Gluten, Dairy, Sugar & Potato FREE…. email MfM or go on their Face Book page send a MSG & ask for a few sample for 2 dogs ask for the Salmon & Sardine Brown Rice & Veggies cause it will be around the same amount of Fat Fiber & Protein % as the Pedigree kibble was & then after introducing the Salmon & Sardines try the Duck & Turkey grain free, here’s their link http://www.mealsformutts.com.au/index.html

  14. Natures goodness grainfree… I am very happy with this product for my 10yo Lab that has had skin allergies, smelly ears and hot spots. I have been reading a lot of reviews and have tried many different products. Have decided to go as green as you can with a dog’s diet. I make her a chicken, beef or lamb mince stew with mostly veges. She has lots of raw meaty bones, I give her coconut oil which is AMAZING, and Diatomaceous Earth (crushed diatoms) seaweed extract and she is over her itching and fur loss, has boundless energy and has a new lease on life. I will be sticking with the grainfree from now on, dogs don’t need all those carbs… they just use them as fillers in products anyway and you never know what they have in them… and I will try that Applaws too.

  15. There is another grain-free food available at Coles supermarkets,namely Applaws “Its All Good”, which appears to me to have superior ingredients & propably deserves 4 stars.

    • Reply
      Pet Food Reviews (Australia) January 27, 2015 at 3:29 am

      Hi Alan – sorry for the delay in replying. I’ve now reviewed Applaws It’s All Good – https://www.petfoodreviews.com.au/dry-dog-food/applaws-its-all-good/

      • Yes I’d prefer Applaws, I got a free sample sent out today of the Chicken Lite, Applaws also sent my boy Chicken & vegetables in Ginsing broth, you can see the food thru the clear packeting & you can see shredded pieces of beautiful chicken breast, shredded carrots gardening peas & rice, it looked that good, I could of eaten it myself, we are waiting to have it for breakfast tomorrow…well Patch is…what I like is its wet & the fat is only 0.1% now that is excellent for a dog food means its natural & not full of by-product skin & fat, especially if you have a sick dog with Pancreatitis..

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