Get 35% OFF Today—Chewy.com Limited Time—35% OFF + Free Shipping—Chewy.com

Essence vs. Blue Buffalo

In this comparison article for Essence vs Blue Buffalo, we'll highlight the key differences between these two pet food brands. To properly compare Essence and Blue Buffalo, we'll use up-to-date nutritional and price information.

There are many factors to consider when choosing the best pet food brand for your pet. Factors such as ingredient quality, guaranteed analysis, product safety, brand history, and cost are among the most important factors to consider.

Throughout this Blue Buffalo vs Essence comparison, we've utilized average data to make general comparisons. If you'd like to see individual product reviews, visit our Essence Review Page or Blue Buffalo Review Page.

Guaranteed Analysis: Blue Buffalo vs. Essence

According to AAFCO, all pet food labels must provide a guaranteed analysis of nutrient content. The analysis must provide guaranteed minimum percentages of crude protein and crude fat, and maximum percentages of crude fiber and moisture.

All percentages used in this comparison are averages reported on a dry matter basis.

Essence Dog Food vs. Blue Buffalo Dog Food

Dry Dog Food	Essence	Blue Buffalo
Crude Protein	40.9%	29.5%
Crude Fat	19.3%	15.3%
Crude Fiber	5.7%	6.8%

Wet/Canned Dog Food	Essence	Blue Buffalo
Crude Protein	46.2%	40.0%
Crude Fat	32.6%	26.2%
Crude Fiber	6.0%	7.4%

Crude Protein Comparison For Dog Food

Protein is an extremely important part of your dog's diet. Without sufficient protein, dogs can develop a wide-range of serious health problems.

Essence dry dog foods clearly provides more protein than Blue Buffalo. In fact, the difference between the protein content is roughly 11.38%, which is a significant amount. For wet dog foods, Essence provides more protein (about 6.18% more).

Crude Fat Comparison For Dog Food

Dietary fats serves a multitude of roles in the proper development and function of our canine companions. Here are some of the benefits (not exhaustive):

Help produce prostaglandins, which reduce inflammation among other critical functions.
Aid in the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins
Improve skin and coat health
Improve the palatially of your dog's food

According to our average data, Blue Buffalo typically provides less fat than Essence. However, this difference is relatively small and doesn't represent a significant difference between the two brands. In addition, Essence wet dog foods also provide more fat than Blue Buffalo wet foods.

Both brands provide roughly the same amount of crude fiber. With regards to wet dog food, Blue Buffalo and Essence also provide roughly the same amount of crude fiber.

Essence Cat Food vs. Blue Buffalo Cat Food

Dry Cat Food	Essence	Blue Buffalo
Crude Protein	44.1%	37.5%
Crude Fat	18.5%	16.8%
Crude Fiber	4.8%	6.2%

Wet/Canned Cat Food	Essence	Blue Buffalo
Crude Protein	46.2%	45.8%
Crude Fat	31.8%	24.3%
Crude Fiber	4.8%	8.1%

Crude Protein Comparison For Cat Food

Protein is an extremely important part of your cat's diet. Without sufficient protein, cats can develop a wide-range of serious health problems.

Blue Buffalo dry recipes contain 6.55% less protein than Essence dry recipes. This difference in protein content is a notable difference between Essence and Blue Buffalo. For wet cat foods, Essence and Blue Buffalo provide roughly the same amount of protein.

Crude Fat Comparison For Cat Food

There are many ways in which dietary fat contributes to the overall health of our feline friends. Here is a short list of benefits provided by fats (not exhaustive):

Aid in the digestion and absorption of fat-soluble vitamins
Improve the health of skin/coat
Slow the growth of yeast infections
Slow the development and spread of certain type of cancers.
Maintain healthy blood pressure

As you can see, Blue Buffalo and Essence guarantee a similar amount of crude fat. For wet cat foods, Essence provides more fat (about 7.55% more).

Essence and Blue Buffalo both provide roughly the same amount of crude fiber. For wet cat foods, Blue Buffalo typically provides a little more fiber (about 3.20% more).

Essence Pet Food Ingredients vs. Blue Buffalo Pet Food Ingredients

Here are some of the controversial ingredients used only by Blue Buffalo.

Garlic

Caramel

Canola Oil

Pea Protein

Caramel Color

Tomato Pomace

Powdered Cellulose

Dried Tomato Pomace

We believe that certain pet food ingredients are linked to adverse health affects; these ingredients are classified as harmful.

Here are some of the harmful ingredients used only by Blue Buffalo.

Menadione Sodium Bisulfate Complex

Product Safety: Recall History of Essence & Blue Buffalo?

According to our records, Essence has never been recalled.

Blue Buffalo has been recalled 9 times.

Nov. 25, 2015: Salmonella
Nov. 6, 2015: Presence of Propylene Glycol
May 31, 2016: Mold
March 18, 2017: elevated beef throid hormone
Feb. 14, 2017: presence of aluminum
March 3, 2017: Foil Seal Packaging Problem
Oct. 8, 2010: toxic levels of vitamin D
April 19, 2007: Melamine
April 26, 2007: Melamine

Price Comparison: Which Brand Is More Expensive?

Dry Dog Food	Essence	Blue Buffalo
Per Pound	$4.11	$3.42
Per Calorie	$0.0024	$0.0021

Dry Cat Food	Essence	Blue Buffalo
Per Pound	$4.64	$5.07
Per Calorie	$0.0027	$0.0031

Wet Dog Food	Essence	Blue Buffalo
Per Pound	$4.99	$5.09
Per Calorie	$0.0090	$0.0100

Wet Cat Food	Essence	Blue Buffalo
Per Pound	$5.98	$7.50
Per Calorie	$0.0103	$0.0153

The average cost-per-lb is heavily influenced by the varying amounts of moisture present in each brand's food products (wet vs. dry food, dry vs. freeze-dried food, etc). However, the average cost-per-kcal eliminates the influence of moisture. Therefore, the average cost-per-kcal is the better metric to consider.

If you'd like to calculate the average cost-per-day or cost-pet-year of feeding Essence or Blue Buffalo, input your pet's weight into our cost analyzer widget.

Averages price data can identify whether or not there exists a significant price difference between two brands. However, the actual price that you'll pay for Essence or Blue Buffalo will depend on your shopping habits.

Pet owners who use our price comparison feature typically save more than 25% off retail prices for Essence and Blue Buffalo. In addition, we currently have some great coupons for our readers.

Disclosure: PawDiet has an affiliate relationship with stores featured (or linked-to) in this article. We are compensated for referring customers. Thank you for shopping with our retail partners!

Where To Buy Essence Pet Foods

You can purchase Essence pet foods from the following stores:

12 Recipes In-Stock Today

13 Recipes In-Stock Today

Where To Buy Blue Buffalo Pet Foods

You can purchase Blue Buffalo pet food products from these retailers:

281 Recipes In-Stock Today

135 Recipes In-Stock Today

262 Recipes In-Stock Today

14 Recipes In-Stock Today

Type Of Pet Foods Available

Product	Essence	Blue Buffalo
Dry Dog Food	6 Recipes	93 Recipes
Wet Dog Food	6 Recipes	94 Recipes
Dog Treats	None	50 Treats
Dry Cat Food	3 Recipes	42 Recipes
Wet Cat Food	3 Recipes	59 Recipes
Cat Treats	None	16 Treats