First 5 ingredients
Pacifica (old): Boneless salmon, salmon meal, herring meal, whitefish meal, green peas

Wild Atlantic (new): Whole mackerel, whole herring, whole redfish, silver hake, mackerel meal

My Observations: Salmon is out altogether and replaced by a lot of mackerel and herring. Not necessarily a bad thing if we put factor in sustainability concerns.

Their thing is local fresh ingredients. Since they're now in KY, they don't have local access to wild caught salmon.

Calorie distribution
Pacifica: 3512 kcal/kg (421 kcal per 250 ml cup) with 33% of energy from protein, 41% fat and 26% from fruits and vegetables.

Wild Atlantic: 3475 kcal/kg (396 kcal per 8oz cup), with 29% from protein, 29% from fruits and vegetables, and 42% from richly nourishing fish oils.

My Observations: It seems each unit weight of kibble is going to be less nutritionally dense, with more the calories coming from fruits and vegetables compared to protein.

I think the caloric distribution on their website is an error. The other 3 Regionals formulas all have identical guaranteed analysis to the Atlantic but have a calorie distribution of 34% Protein, 24% Fruits/Veggies, 42% Fats. There is no reason the fish should have a different calorie distribution. In addition the calorie distribution of 29/29/42 is the same as the new Heritage fish. I think the Heritage fish was listed under the Atlantic.

Available sizes
Pacifica:
340 G / 2.27 KG / 6.8 KG / 13 KG -- posted
12 OZ / 5 LB / 15 LB/ 28.6 LB -- converted

Wild Atlantic:
12 OZ / 4.5 LB / 13 LB / 25 LB -- posted
340 G / 2.04 KG / 5.9 KG /11.34 -- converted

My Observations: The bag sizes are getting smaller too, especially with the larger sized bags.

My dog does really well on Acana and I love it, but my overall feeling is that it is probably going to get more expensive and you're going to have go feed more (by volume and weight) to maintain the same caloric in take and each bag is probably not going to last as long to boot.

My distributor just posted prices for the new Regionals formulas and they are just slightly less than the old formula (less than a dollar difference at wholesale) and as we know the bag size is getting smaller. But be aware that they just did a price increase on Orijen that they didn't do on Acana. So if they weren't doing the changes, there would have been a price increase on the current product line anyway.

 

Acana is such a great food (as is Orijen) that I think most people buying the food will not be swayed by the changes. At least with the results I have seen in my dogs compared to when they were eating a kibble supposedly pretty equal in ingredients, I know I will stand by the company. If they need a few extra dollars to keep doing what they're doing, I'm willing to give it - because no one else is up there with them in my opinion. Merrick maybe, until Purina bought them.

 

My girls love the new formulas, and having dogs that tend to hold onto weight, I am a fan of the lowered calories. I love the local, sustainable ingredients. The 4.5 lb bag of Acana Heritage is $16.99 at my local pet store, where the old formulas were just over $20.

 

Calorie distribution
Pacifica: 3512 kcal/kg (421 kcal per 250 ml cup) with 33% of energy from protein, 41% fat and 26% from fruits and vegetables.

Wild Atlantic: 3475 kcal/kg (396 kcal per 8oz cup), with 29% from protein, 29% from fruits and vegetables, and 42% from richly nourishing fish oils.

My Observations: It seems each unit weight of kibble is going to be less nutritionally dense, with more the calories coming from fruits and vegetables compared to protein.
{....}

My dog does really well on Acana and I love it, but my overall feeling is that it is probably going to get more expensive and you're going to have go feed more (by volume and weight) to maintain the same caloric in take and each bag is probably not going to last as long to boot.

1% difference. something that is highly unlikely to be a contributing factor in how much most people need to feed

It could be good that calcium and phosphorus are a bit lower, many people with large breeds would prefer that.

On a dry matter basis, if protein and fat remain the same percentage and moisture is a little bit increased, than dry matter protein and fat are increased.

 

I'm super annoyed with the changes to the Singles line.

Current ingredient list: duck meal, deboned duck*, green lentils, red lentils, duck liver*, pears*, duck fat, green peas, yellow peas, algae, garbanzo beans, pumpkin*, carrots*, freeze-dried duck liver, kelp, chicory root, ginger root, peppermint leaf, lemon balm, mixed tocopherols (preservative), dried Enterococcus faecium fermentation product.

NEW ingredient list: Deboned duck*, duck meal, whole green peas, red lentils, duck liver*, duck fat, pinto beans, chickpeas, herring oil, green lentils, whole yellow peas, duck giblets*, Barlett pears*, sun-cured alfalfa, natural duck flavor, duck cartilage*, dried kelp, freeze-dried duck liver, whole pumpkin*, whole butternut squash*, kale*, spinach*, mustard greens*, collard greens*, turnip greens*, whole carrots*, Red Delicious apples*, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, zinc proteinate, mixed tocopherols (preservative), chicory root, turmeric, sarsaparilla root, althea root, rosehips, juniper berries, dried lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, dried bifidobacterium animalis fermentation product, dried lactobacillus casei fermentation product.

IMO that is not a limited ingredient food anymore AND the fat increased from 15% to 17%.
From a FB group I belong to:
Moved deboned duck up
Moved duck meal down
Moved whole green peas up 5 spots
Bounced green lentils down 6 spots
Bumped pears up (I'm not counting spots anymore lol)
Added pinto beans
Added herring oil
Added duck giblets
Added alfalfa
Added natural duck flavor (as opposed to synthetic?)
Added kale
Added spinach
Added mustard greens
Added collard greens
Added turnip greens
Added apples
Added pumpkin seeds
Added sunflower seeds
Removed algae
Removed ginger root
Removed lemon balm
Removed peppermint leaf
Added turmeric
Added sarsaparilla
Added Althea root
Added rose hips
Added juniper berries

That is A LOT of changes.... and I am fairly certain prices are going up and bags just keep decreasing in size through the years. Bleh. Sucks because Acana is what he's always done best on but I was happiest with the formulas way back when. I prefered the Acana duck when it still had oats in it. It was actually a simple formula.

 

I'm pretty sure I read that they were getting rid of all 'synthetic' vitamins/minerals and using real ingredients to get those nutrients instead. Which is partly why there are a bunch of 'random' things added.

Typically limited ingredient means a single protein source. I'd still consider it limited ingredient - because it is still only Duck, and the extras are either starches to hold the kibble together or veggies/fruit to get vitamins/minerals.

I'm not sure why people are freaking out over this. Everything gets more expensive...it's like the old people who complain that gas used to be 10 cents a gallon when they were kids. Prices go up, it's life. They are still not over priced imo. How about we complain about companies that lie about what's in their food, change ingredients without telling anyone, charge $70 a bag and still be plant based, have recalls in which animals die...

 

Look I am a feeder of Acana and have been for years so I am aware of their company's values etc. I obviously haven't had a problem feeding it for over 6 years now nor paying the prices because well, I've liked the results. But even I know they are FAR from perfect. They do "lie" about what it's in their food just like any other dog food company by using fancy words. Ever seen this letter from this company?: http://www.freshwaterfish.com/system/files/L2PNewsletter Winter 2011.pdf

Champion somehow skirts around using the term "by-products" which is essentially what they are and honestly I don't have a problem with it... but they're definitely not trying to be forthcoming about where they're getting some of their ingredients from. Freshwater Fish Company does say it is "by-product" and Champion is pretty much getting by using different terminology. So Champion basically buys the fish from this company that was otherwise going to be used for rendering or going to the garbage.

It is Freshwater Fish's company's waste and the only place for it to go was rendering so I don't consider it 'bad' for dogs at all, it doesn't bother ME to feed it, but a company (champion) who touts to be 'fit for human consumption'... that's where the wording gets a bit complicated in some of their website literature. They very carefully word things in their descriptions, using words like 'before arriving...' etc etc.

Their food was definitely superior IMO back in 2008/2009 ish then they changed formulas then. I knew of a lot of dogs who did very poorly with the switch even though they were 'minimal' changes. Now this is even more changes. It's obviously to cut costs for them but it's not cutting costs for us customers at all. They're using cheaper ingredients, more ingredient splitting, and making bags smaller and raising the prices so yes that irks me.

Also, they HAVE an incident of killing pets in Australia due to irradiation, which can be argued that it wasn't their fault. But it did happen. It killed over 30 cats and affected over 100. The government was basically blamed despite the fact that they signed the documents to irradiate. http://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/is-your-pets-food-irradiated/

Also, in 2011, they were stopped by the FDA at the border because some formulas of Acana tested positive for salmonella. They weren't ever forthcoming about this or even mentioned it. Again, this isn't a *huge* deal, but it HAS happened is my only point. If something similar happened with Purina or Royal Canin, people would flip out, but somehow Champion gets a pass or nobody talks about it. Champion is NOT the be all end all of dog food.

With that said, I cannot deny my dog has always done the best on Acana and I would be willing to give the new formulas a chance. I just know my dog and the simpler the better so I am unsure how he will handle all of the additions.

 

In terms of prices, I know at least here there has been no major increase, possibly none at all or even a decrease.

I don't remember the specific dollar amount I got it for before (one large bag lasts us almost 3 months) but the current price is still in the ballpark +- a couple dollars at most. (not more than 5)

 

In my opinion, it's one thing to raise prices and continue to provide a superior product, it's a slightly different thing to keep prices low by diluting their products. I suppose because Acana is more their economical line compared to Orijen, that's why they made the decision to just increase prices for Orijen (as doodlebug124 mentioned) but change formulas and decrease bag size for Acana, since the consumer bases are different in what they are generally willing to tolerate. Am I annoyed at some of these changes? Yes. Is it enough for me to walk away from Acana? No. Nevertheless, I do think people should be aware of the changes are happening and not just implicitly feed Acana because they trust the brand.



I'm just curious, are you seeing some these new non-Heritage formulas in Canada? I was accidentally on the Canada version of their website and noticed that they are not advertising their new regional/singles lines there. Maybe most of the Canada regional/singles formulas are staying the same and they're changing the US regional/singles formulas to be more regional in the US, to be more efficient for their new manufacturing facility in Kentucky. In which case, these formula changes might be as much logistic driven as cost driven.

 

I don't think I have personally seen the non-heritage new formulas (but I haven't specifically been looking). I have seen the heritage ones.

 

Thew new Heritage Meats food looks like a good formula and its cheaper than many competitors at $2lb. 29% Protein and 17% fat is more than sufficient for 99.9999% of dogs.

I would suggest that the Kentucky-made foods will be far better due to the fact the plant is brand new, compared to what was made at the dumpy plant in Canada. Also, the food made in Kentucky will probably reach stores especially on the East Coast in better shape and less risk to heat damage during shipping.

 

I actually quite like the look of the new Regionals foods. I like that they're made with a bit more meat now too. I currently switch between the current Acana formulas and Orijen, mainly Orijen though. When these come out I may switch to this instead though. The calories are quite a bit lower than Orijen which is a plus for me because my girl is struggling to stay lean on Orijen. I'm not comfortable cutting her food back any further. With only a 10% meat difference between these new Regionals and Orijen, I don't really feel like it would be a downgrade.

Not really interested in the Heritage formulas as I need to keep her carbs as low as I can with a dry food. Don't want to increase that.

 

The difference between carbs in Heritage and the Regional line is 5%. You would never see the difference and the difference would never effect your dog's health since 30% in the Heritage line is very low to begin with.

 

The new Heritage line is at my pet store and sitting in my home. So far, I have tried the Free-Run Poultry formula with my cocker spaniel.

A little background: Orijen is too rich for my 7mo puppy and gave him flatulence/diarrhea. Singles line he likes, not loves, prefers Duck to Lamb recipe. So the Orijen was too rich and Singles too lean.

He very much likes the Free-Run Poultry and is happy on it. I would say it is a great food. I have also heard positive things from the pet store about the Freshwater Fish. It is sitting on my desk but I have not tried it yet.

One criticism I have of the Freshwater Fish is that it is lower in EPA than the other Acana fish recipes. They have switched from Salmon to Mackerel for EPA to save costs, but the Heritage Freshwater Fish has less Mackerel.

Provided his digestive system can tolerate the Regionals, I will probably give him Regionals Wild Atlantic in the morning and Free-Run Poultry in the evenings. That gets him the chicken he loves but also Omega-3's.

Otherwise, the new line looks great. I think the Singles Lamb recipe has been upgraded with more meat and peas. So far great results on the Free-Run poultry and I will let you know once I've tried Freshwater Fish.

 

I may be curious to try the Heritage line once I see it appearing in our local stores. I just took a look at them and I kind of like them better ingredient wise than the new Singles foods but maybe that's just me. A small price cut would be nice.

I am really trying to find a food that both Lola (cockapoo) and Jackson will do well on. I can't seem to get Lola's pooping under control LOL. She is a 1 1/2 year old active cockapoo and her poops are always solid & formed but she poops sooo much. Like in the morning she goes 2-3 separate times (I think it's just because she wants to keep walking honestly) but then she will usually go again at lunch and dinner and sometimes in the evening. I don't know it just seems excessive. She was on Acana duck (same as Jackson) for a while. He's always done well on Acana duck for the past few years but her poop is still a lot. Fed her a bag of Natural Balance Synergy and did not really see a change, recently had a bag of NB Wild Pursuit, also she's been fed Purina Beyond, she always poops this much. And it's not like she can't hold it. I almost wonder if she thinks every time we go outside she's supposed to squeeze a little out lmao. I don't know I've just never seen a dog poop so much.

 

My dog's stool is firmer on the Heritage line than it was on the Singles Duck recipe. There is a bit more meat which I think is why. I would definitely encourage you to try the Heritage line once it becomes available.

 

For anyone who might want this info, here's the ash for the new Heritage formulas

Free-Run Poultry: ~5.85%
Freshwater Fish: ~7%
Heritage Meats: ~7%

 

Cool! Thanks for the info!

I have to admit after spending a little more time going through more of the formulas and guaranteed/analyses on the new recipes, on the whole they are actually pretty on par with the previous formulations. Those ash values look pretty similar (if not a little better) with the previous formulas as well.

 

Is it only sold in the US?

 

No, it is a Canadian brand, so you can get it in Canada as well (and generally cheaper). Not sure about other locations.

 

As an example, the light and fit formula is changed.

 

you can get acana and orijen in many countries including where i am atm new zealand. can also get in UK, australia and many more countries. i think teh US changes are beign made to NZ as well i just hope my lab will do well on the light and fit formula still

 

I would e-mail the company and ask (or check the bags - they should say whether its made in the USA or Canada).