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Evolve vs. Essence

In this comparison article for Evolve vs Essence, we'll highlight the key differences between these two pet food brands. To properly compare Evolve and Essence, 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 Essence vs Evolve comparison, we've utilized average data to make general comparisons. If you'd like to see individual product reviews, visit our Evolve Review Page or Essence Review Page.

Guaranteed Analysis: Essence vs. Evolve

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.

Evolve Dog Food vs. Essence Dog Food

Dry Dog Food	Evolve	Essence
Crude Protein	28.6%	40.9%
Crude Fat	15.3%	19.3%
Crude Fiber	4.7%	5.7%

Wet/Canned Dog Food	Evolve	Essence
Crude Protein	44.9%	46.2%
Crude Fat	28.4%	32.6%
Crude Fiber	6.6%	6.0%

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 Evolve. In fact, the difference between the protein content is roughly 12.25%, which is a significant amount. For wet dog foods, Essence and Evolve provide roughly the same amount of protein.

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, Evolve 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 Evolve wet foods.

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

Evolve Cat Food vs. Essence Cat Food

Dry Cat Food	Evolve	Essence
Crude Protein	38.4%	44.1%
Crude Fat	16.8%	18.5%
Crude Fiber	4.5%	4.8%

Wet/Canned Cat Food	Evolve	Essence
Crude Protein	50.2%	46.2%
Crude Fat	23.6%	31.8%
Crude Fiber	6.1%	4.8%

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.

Evolve dry recipes contain 5.64% less protein than Essence dry recipes. This difference in protein content is a notable difference between Essence and Evolve. In addition, Evolve wet cat foods also provide more protein than Essence wet foods.

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, Evolve and Essence guarantee a similar amount of crude fat. For wet cat foods, Essence provides significantly more fat (about 8.18% more).

Evolve and Essence both provide roughly the same amount of crude fiber. With regards to wet cat food, Evolve and Essence also provide roughly the same amount of crude fiber.

Evolve Pet Food Ingredients vs. Essence Pet Food Ingredients

Here are some of the controversial ingredients used only by Evolve.

Poultry

Canola Oil

Iron Oxide

Canola Meal

Pea Protein

Durum Semolina

Powdered Cellulose

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 Evolve.

Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex

Product Safety: Recall History of Evolve & Essence?

Evolve has been recalled 2 times.

July 29, 2021: Aflatoxin
Nov. 27, 2018: elevated levels of Vitamin D

According to our records, Essence has never been recalled.

Price Comparison: Which Brand Is More Expensive?

Dry Dog Food	Evolve	Essence
Per Pound	$3.03	$4.11
Per Calorie	$0.0019	$0.0024

Dry Cat Food	Evolve	Essence
Per Pound	$3.11	$4.64
Per Calorie	$0.0019	$0.0027

Wet Dog Food	Evolve	Essence
Per Pound	$4.91	$4.99
Per Calorie	$0.0133	$0.0090

Wet Cat Food	Evolve	Essence
Per Pound	$5.93	$5.98
Per Calorie	$0.0155	$0.0103

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 Evolve or Essence, 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 Evolve or Essence will depend on your shopping habits.

Pet owners who use our price comparison feature typically save more than 25% off retail prices for Evolve and Essence. 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 Evolve Pet Foods

You can purchase Evolve pet foods from the following stores:

22 Recipes In-Stock Today

26 Recipes In-Stock Today

Where To Buy Essence Pet Foods

You can purchase Essence pet food products from these retailers:

12 Recipes In-Stock Today

13 Recipes In-Stock Today

Type Of Pet Foods Available

Product	Evolve	Essence
Dry Dog Food	12 Recipes	6 Recipes
Wet Dog Food	7 Recipes	6 Recipes
Dog Treats	26 Treats	None
Dry Cat Food	5 Recipes	3 Recipes
Wet Cat Food	11 Recipes	3 Recipes
Cat Treats	None	None