Last Updated on December 21, 2023 by Kieran Beckles

Are you thinking about signing up to Butternut Box and Tails but you can’t pick between these two fresh dog food brands?

Butternut Box and Tails are two of the leading fresh dog food companies in the UK, having provided British and Irish pet owners with the chance to ditch their usual food in favour of tasty meals.

These two fresh dog food companies offering British and Irish pet owners with the chance to feed balanced and complete premium dog food to their four legged friend.

Butternut Box use human quality meat and fresh produce such as fruit and vegetables in all their meals that are tailored to suit your dog’s diet whether your pet needs to gain or lose weight.

Tails is one of the most versatile dog food companies in the UK, creating dry dog food and wet dog food in healthy meals tailored to compliment your dog’s health and daily life.

In this article, we’ll take a look at these two fresh dog food brands, their healthy meals, how their subscription service works, and whether their dog’s meals are worth the price.

We’ll also share our verdict on Butternut Box Vs Tails and which dog food brand we prefer.

(Cut to the chase: We recommend Butternut Box and you can save 50% on your first box and 50% on your second box by clicking here).

Butternut Box

Butternut Box are one of the leading providers of balanced and complete fresh dog food meals in the UK, Ireland and the Netherlands. They’ve fed over 100,000 dogs in the UK since launching.

Butternut Box offer a fresh take on dog food so pet owners can ditch the dry food or wet food bought in the local supermarket in favour of vet-approved meals customized to meet your dog’s specific needs.

Butternut Box use human quality meat in their all their meals – each meal is comprised of at least 60% meat alongside fresh fruit and vegetables.

Butternut Box use a cooking process where their fresh meals are gently cooked at low temperatures to ensure the fresh food retains its nutritional integrity and locks in maximum flavour.

It’s important to point out that Butternut Box’s meals never use any additives, artificial flavours, nasties or preservatives in your dog’s diet. Pet owners can have peace of mind that their dog is eating fresh dog food comprised of real ingredients that can benefit their pet’s health.

Butternut Box offered four recipes when we first started to feed Butternut Box’s meals to our dogs but in the past few years, they’ve expanded their range to 10. It’s perfect for picky eaters like Skye who tends to grow bored with her meals if there’s not a lot of variety.

Copper and Skye particularly love Wham Bam Lamb, You’ve Got Game and Pork This Way. However, you can find Butternut Box meals that contain chicken, turkey, duck, vegetable and plant-based options to cater to all dogs.

You may not be aware that nearly 60% of dogs in the UK are overweight, underlining the obesity crisis amongst our canines. Butternut Box will tailor their meals to meet your dog’s specific needs based upon your answers in their sign-up questionnaire.

Butternut Box use rip and serve meal pouches to make it easy for pet parents to serve their new food to their pet. Butternut Box provide detailed information on how to transition your dog onto Butternut Box from their current food.

Once Butternut Box’s meals are gently cooked, Butternut Box freeze the meal pouches before shipping them direct to your door so there’s minimal hassle for pet owners. They use eco-friendly packaging that can be recycled to ensure your dog’s food remains cold but you can recycle your Butternut Box delivery.

Butternut Box’s meals require freezer space (most will fit in a freezer drawer) apart from three or four meal pouches that you can thaw in your fridge before serving to your four-legged friend.

In my experience, you can usually fit your Butternut Box meals in your top freezer drawer thanks to their rectangle shape. However, if you opt for monthly deliveries of Butternut Box’s meals, you may need a little more space to store your meals but you’ll make a saving!

Butternut Box have a stellar reputation with picky eaters, dogs with allergies, pets with underlying health issues, pups with flatulence and dogs with sensitive stomachs.

Our Experience

We first switched to Butternut Box in 2019 when we moved back to London from California.

We remained with the fresh dog food company throughout most of the following three years before a brand partnership led us to temporarily move to another fresh dog food company.

However, Skye and Copper can be fussy dogs and despite us sticking with the fresh dog food that looked like home cooked meals, my picky eaters didn’t really enjoy their new food.

So we opted to move back to Butternut Box and we haven’t looked back over the past two years. Butternut Box are perfect for fussy dogs and picky eaters.

Skye is the pickier of my two Alaskan Klee Kai and she loves Butternut Box.

It’s incredible to see how much my dog loves devouring all her Butternut Box meals. Her favourite recipes are Wham Bam Lamb and You’ve Got Game.

If you’re a pet parent with a picky eater at home, you’ll know the relief that comes with seeing your happy dogs tucking into their fresh dog food meals on a consistent basis. It goes without saying Copper is equally as enthusiastic about Butternut Box’s range of fresh dog foods.

I’m continually impressed by Butternut Box’s ever-evolving approach to pet nutrition. If you sign up to their subscription service, you’ll get regular updates from Butternut Box on changes to their meals, new additions, reliable Butternut Box delivery service and can get involved in the Butternutter community.

As a pet owner who tries to their best to protect the environment, I appreciate that Butternut Box use eco-friendly packaging and have a sustainable approach to their business. You can feed your dog their meals and feel good that you’re doing your bit for your dog’s health and the planet.

While we’ve given our verdict, don’t take our word for it. Butternut Box have an average rating of 4.8 stars based upon over 23,000 reviews on independent website Trustpilot. That’s a lot of happy dogs and happy pet owners.

Butternut Box are competitively priced when compared to other fresh dog food companies. To receive their gently cooked pet food each month, I had to pay around £75-80.

The price depends on your dog’s meals because some carry a surge charge. If you opt for a bigger Butternut Box delivery, you can also save money but you’ll need more freezer space.

You can read our dedicated Butternut Box review here.

Tails

Tails are a well-established dog food company in the UK. They offer a range of pet food options to keep British dogs well fed whether they like dry food, wet food or gravy. They don’t offer raw food.

We had the chance to feed Tails to Copper and Skye for a couple of months but ultimately we made the switch back to fresh dog food because they preferred it.

Tails use high quality ingredients in their recipes just like Butternut Box, avoiding added sugar or other nasties that you may find in other store-bought dog food.

Tails explain on their website that their recipes are packed with protein, root vegetables and wholegrains, for energy, fibre and proper nutrients.

Tails ask dog owners to provide details about their pet such as their dog’s breed, physical traits, daily habits and more.

Once dog owners have keyed in more information about your pup, Tails will offer a suggested meal plan for your canine companion to ensure their needs are met.

You can opt to receive dry food or wet food or a combination of both depending on the preference of dog owners. While Butternut Box freeze their meals, Tails dog food arrives ready to service.

Tails include a custom scooper so you won’t overfeed your dog. In my experience, the scooper was easy to put together and was a useful addition.

If dog owners don’t think their pet will enjoy a dry-food diet, they offer 19 difference wet dog food recipes. They’re gently cooked recipes in a variety of textures.

Our Experience

As I hinted above, Tails wasn’t an overwhelming hit with my dogs. We tried their dry food and wet food to get an overview of their pet food.

Copper showed a moderate interest in their dry food and wet food but his mealtime excitement was subdued compared to fresh food meals.

Skye was extremely picky with Tails and it ultimately prompted us to ditch Tails and place a Butternut Box order because it was starting to become a real issue with pickiness and senstitivity.

I must state that I was impressed with Tails and their attention to detail in the initial box of food. They go into great detail about each ingredient in their food, how to make the transition to their meals and provide a lot of additional help for dog owners. So their subscription service is good.

Having said that, Tails have good reviews online with 4.4 stars based upon over 45,000 reviews on independent website Trustpilot.

While I felt Tails is a better option than dry food or wet food that you find at your local supermarket, Copper and Skye preferred their Butternut Box fresh meals like Wham Bam Lamb.

Butternut Box Vs Tails: Our Pick

We’ve reached the end of our article on Butternut Box and Tails.

You probably won’t be surprised to learn that my recommendation would be Butternut Box based upon our experience feeding Butternut meals.

Copper and Skye are obsessed with Butternut Box’s meals despite being consistently fed their fresh meals for the best part of four years. During the time that we’ve fed them Butternut Box, we haven’t had any issues with sensitive stomachs or fussiness at mealtime.

Having previously experienced persistent bouts of pickiness with Skye, Butternut Box have provided my wife and I with real peace of mind. We know that Copper and Skye will always finish their meals.

I like Butternut Box tailor their meals to meet each dog’s specific needs, you can opt for grain free, they’ve created complete meals and feeding is as easy as rip and serve.

Feeling like you can rely and trust your Butternut Box delivery service is important if you travel and you have to leave your dogs with a dog sitter. You don’t want to be fretting about whether your pets will eat while you’re gone away.

Personally, I believe fresh dog food that is comprised of at least 60% meat is the best way to keep my dogs happy, healthy and fuelled for their active day-to-day lives as important members of the family.

Tails provide dry food that comes in bags so it’s easier to store than Butternut Box but I do believe you compromise on freshness.

While Butternut Box and Tails have good reputations online, Butternut Box do have a superior score on Trustpilot – too.

I’d recommend Butternut Box based upon our experience feeding their complete meals and I believe pet owners will save money in the long run with no more trips to the vet about sensitive stomachs.

You can get 50% off your first box and 50% off your second box when you click this link: https://butternutbox.com/LifeWithKleeKai

Where To Buy Butternut Box?

You can only order Butternut Box direct from their website to start if dog owners want to get started with their fresh food. You can start your first Butternut Box order via this link or the button below.

Do Butternut Box Offer A Coupon Code Or Discount?

We contacted Butternut Box and managed to secure a great offer for pet parents reading this dog food review. If you’d like to give Butternut Box a try, you can save 50% on your first box and second box via this link or the button below.

Where To Buy Tails?

If you’re a dog owner and you want to try Tails pet food, you can get started by clicking this link or hitting the button below.

Do Tails Offer A Coupon Code Or Discount?

At the current time, we don’t have a Tails offer for our readers but you can keep checking back to see if this changes.

Anything Else To Consider?

If you’re thinking about ditching the dry food or wet food in favour of fresh dog food, raw dog food, grain free dog food, customized dry food or some other type of pet food format, you should speak to your veterinarian to get advice on how to make a successful transition to your dog’s new food.

There are other considerations to think about if you decide to try fresh dog food or raw dog food because you’ll need ample fridge and freezer space. You may find defrosted raw food or fresh food could get a little messy in your fridge unless you use a container.

Of all the companies who offer a subscription service that I’ve reviewed, Butternut Box offer some of the customer service and you’ll find their experts can help offer guidance on how to adopt a Butternut diet if you’ve got a dog with a sensitive stomach, a fussy eater or general questions about pet nutrition.

Some fresh dog food brands will offer pet parents a transition pack or trial pack so you can try their dog food risk free.

Wrapping Up

There are other considerations to think about if you decide to try fresh dog food or raw dog food because you’ll need ample fridge and freezer space. You may find defrosted raw food or fresh food could get a little messy in your fridge unless you use a container.

Of all the companies who offer a subscription service that I’ve reviewed, Butternut Box offer some of the customer service and you’ll find their experts can help offer guidance on how to adopt a Butternut diet if you’ve got a dog with a sensitive stomach, a fussy eater or general questions about pet nutrition.

Some fresh dog food brands will offer pet parents a transition pack or trial pack so you can try their dog food risk free.

Wrapping Up

We’ve reached the end of our Butternut Box and Tails comparison article. They’re two good options for dog owners in the UK who want to adopt a fresh approach to their pet’s diet.

However, I recommend Butternut Box as pet parents who want to feed fresh food.

While Tails have a versatile range of dry food and wet food (plus treats), Butternut Box have over 10 different recipes to provide a great menu for dogs.

Copper and Skye have always enjoyed Butternut Box and it’s easily their preferred dog food of all the different brands that we’ve had the opportunity to try since returning to the UK in 2019.

You can always rely on your Butternut Box delivery showing up and as a dog owner with picky eaters, I’m confident you’ll find a Butternut Box fresh recipe that’ll get your dog excited even if they’re a fussy pup like my Klee Kai.

We can offer our followers and our readers the chance to save 50% on your first Butternut Box order so you can try Butternut Box at the fraction of the normal price and cancel if you don’t believe it’s a fit for you and your dog (but I’m sure you’ll be converted). They do have a superior Trustpilot score – too.