Choosing the right food for our pets is one of the most important decisions we ever make for them. A healthy diet not only equals a happy and healthy floof, but it can even lengthen the amount of time you get to spend together – and who doesn’t want that! With such a huge array of different pet foods to choose from now, knowing where to start might be daunting. That’s why we’re comparing two popular options, Scrumbles and Lily’s Kitchen, so you can determine which is best to fuel your floof.

Signs that your pet might need a new diet

Changing your pet’s food isn’t something you want to be doing regularly, and never suddenly. Principally because when you make a change to their diet it can cause upset tums and extra flatulence. The main reasons to change your floof’s food will be because they don’t like it, you’re looking for better quality, digestive issues, or due to medical reasons. Equally circumstantial reasons like the food becoming unavailable or prices changing may lead you to look for a new option.

If you think your floof’s current food isn’t right for them, the key signs which would indicate this are:

• Persistent itchy skin
• Digestive issues like loose stools or particularly yucky-smelling or excessive flatulence
• Flaky, full coat
• Lethargy or change in willingness to go out on walkies or play 

Scrumbles Vs Lily’s Kitchen

So now we know some of the reasons you might be looking to change your pet’s food, it’s time to see what alternative options are out there. It's no easy decision, as there are a vast array of different brands out there, but today we're focusing on two of the most notable; Lily's Kitchen and Scrumbles. Both brands offer dry food, wet food, and treats for cats and dogs, which customers can purchase via their websites or on the high street too. However, differences start to become apparent when we delve deeper into their recipes, ownership, and cost. Each of these areas is broken down section by section to help you understand the difference between Lily's Kitchen and Scrumbles, so you can choose the right pet food to help your furry friend thrive.

Scrumbles Overview

Scrumbles is a family-owned, independent pet food company, founded in 2018 by Aneisha and Jack. Their dry food, wet food, and treats recipes focus on gut health, with natural ingredients and added pre or probiotics. Their range, as listed on their website, consists of 72 product variations, which are relatively evenly split across cat and dog, with 55% of products catering to dog and 45% to cats.

Lily's Kitchen Overview

Lily’s Kitchen is a Nestlé owned pet food company, founded in 2007 by Henrietta. They produce dry food, wet food, and treats for cats and dogs with a focus on natural ingredients and added botanicals. They have over 255 product variations listed on their website, with a bias towards dogs, which makes up over 70% of these products.

Service

Scrumbles customers are able to order via a one-off and subscription service directly via their website, online via the likes of Ocado and Amazon, or in-store via Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Waitrose, Co-Op, and Wilko.

Lily’s Kitchen also offers a one-off and subscription directly via their website, and can be found in the same retailers, with the addition of Morrisons and Asda amongst others.

Whilst both brands offer a subscription service which provides customers with an on-going discount, Scrumbles subscription offers a larger discount of an on-going 15% off vs Lily’s Kitchen at 5%.

Ingredients

Scrumbles make a big deal about gut health, natural ingredients, and responsibly sourcing. Their recipes have a higher level of meat or fish, with their dry dog food containing a minimum of 50% meat or fish going up to 77%, and for cats 75% to 77%. They also stick to a pollo-pescatarian diet to reduce their environmental impact. None of their recipes (cat or dog) contain added pea, potato, or any kind of vegetable protein, and they also do not use any stocks, gravies, added sugars or salt. All of their dry food recipes contain probiotics, and their wet food and treats prebiotics for gut health. They also avoid dairy, soy, gluten, and egg from all their recipes for sensitive pets.

Lily’s Kitchen core statement is to make “proper food, made with love” using wholesome and “proper ingredients”, and typically additional herbs (botanicals) like Chickweed. Their dry dog food recipes have a mix of meat proportions from around 35% to 44%, and their dry cat food recipes around 60%. They only use fresh meat, which means the meat % decreases after being cooked as roughly 70% of meat is water and will evaporate. Some of their recipes also contain pea and potato protein, which cats can’t digest as they’re obligate carnivores, and some contain dairy products which most floofs are intolerant to and can cause upset tums. Fish stocks and gravies are also often used which can be a hidden source of added sugar and salt.

Pricing

To help you understand the difference in cost between Lily's Kitchen and Scrumbles, let's break things down category by category. For both brands customers can gain the best value by opting for larger pack sizes and their subscription services.

Starting off with cat, Scrumbles dry cat food starts from £8.50 for a 750g bag, or £7.65 if you opt to subscribe. The wet cat food starts from £5.50 for 6x 85g pots, and treats are priced at £2.00 for a 60g bag.

Lily's kitchen dry cat food starts from £5 for a 350g bag, or £12.50 for their 800g size. Their wet cat food can be purchased per tin or tray from £1.15, or £9.20 for 8x 85g tins, and treats are £2.25 per 60g bag. 

Moving onto doggies, Scrumbles dry dog food starts from £13.00 for 2kg, or £11.70 if you subscribe. Their wet dog food starts from £11.50 for 6x 395g trays, and treats from £2.75 for 90/100g. 

Lily's Kitchen dry dog food starts from £9.40 for 1kg, or £22.80 for 2.5kg. Again they also offer their wet dog food by the tray or can, from £1.40 for 150g, or £19.50 for 6x 400g cans. Treats start from £2.25 for 40g, ranging up to £8.00 for their large dental treats.

*Prices taken from scrumbles.co.uk and lilyskitchen.co.uk websites respectively. May be subject to change.

Product Comparisons

Adult Dry Dog Food

Scrumbles Chicken Dry Dog Food 2kg vs Lily's Kitchen Chicken & Duck Dry Food 2.5KG

Adult Dry Cat Food

Scrumbles Chicken Dry Cat Food 750g vs Lily's Kitchen Chicken Casserole Dry Food 800g

*Prices taken from scrumbles.co.uk and lilyskitchen.co.uk websites respectively. May be subject to change.

Sustainability

With all the information and real-time events, it’s now impossible to ignore the impact all our buying decisions have on the planet. That’s why more pet parents than ever are looking out for more sustainable food options. It’s also not just us that care about our brands eco-credentials, as I’m sure you can agree our pets wouldn’t want to live in a world without plush green spaces or micey’s to chase.

Scrumbles and Lily’s Kitchen are both certified B Corporations, verifying their commitment across all aspects of sustainability, from environmental to social. Both companies also support charities by providing food and financial donations to charities such as All Dogs Matter. Scrumbles additionally is a member of 1% for the Planet, giving back 1% of their sales each year to environmental causes.

Looking at Ethical Consumer, who investigate and rank the ethical and environmental record of brands, Scrumbles receive a score of 9.5 out of 20, with Lily’s Kitchen receiving a 0 due to being taken over by Nestlé.

Scrumbles produce all their recipes in the UK, whilst Lily’s Kitchen’s products are made a far afield as Thailand.  Both companies also offer eco packaging, with Scrumbles range being entirely recyclable excluding the film on their wet food. Lily’s kitchen wet food and some treats packaging is also recyclable, however their dry food bags and other treats packs can only be recycled using Terracycle. This scheme has come under fire recently, with a lawsuit being filed against them due to “deceptive” recycling claims. Mainly due to the amount of waste they produce far exceeding the amount they recycle.

What do customers say about Scrumbles? 

Scrumbles has a product rating of 4.7/5 over the past year on Feefo. Reviews frequently reference customers seeing improvements in their pet's poops, skin, and coat.

For example Sandra was very happy with Scrumbles recipes, and the improvements to her pooch’s #2’s.

Whilst this customer couldn't believe the difference they saw to their sensitive cat, especially considering the value.

How to switch to Scrumbles

Now that you’re equipped with all the info you need to make a wise decision about what’s best for your floof, you may be considering making a change.

We always recommend transitioning onto a our gut-friendly recipes slowly to reduce the risk of upset tums. For puppies or kittens with extra sensitive bellies, this should be done over a minimum of two weeks, and for adult floofs at least 8 days. To transition, gradually increase the portion of Scrumbles to your old food. Starting off with 25% of Scrumbles and 75% of the old food, working your way up to 100% Scrumbles by the end of the period.

By following this process you should be able to introduce the new recipe seamlessly. However, even so, it is quite normal to see some changes in their stools or flatulence during this time. By the end of the transition they should be back to normal, or ideally even better!

If you have any questions about our recipes or need any help, drop us a line at hello@scrumbles.co.uk

Whilst you're here why not check out:

1. Scrumbles vs Butternut Box
2. Behind the B - What makes Scrumbles a B Corp
3. 1% For the Planet