Bezzie Review 2024: Affordable Human-Grade Dog Food

Overview

It’s widely known that some commercially-available pet foods may not be the healthiest option for our dogs. Human-grade is, without doubt, the new standard for pet food – but the high-quality ingredients often come with a price tag to match. 

Bezzie claims to be an affordable option for health-conscious pet parents, so I was interested to see just how well it fared under the microscope. Having reviewed dozens of pet food delivery services, I wanted to see just how it compared to the many others out there. 

Overall, I was impressed with the quality of Bezzie’s human-grade dog food and the level of variety. And, if you combine the pricier fresh food plans with the dry, kibble-style bites plan, I’m certain you can reach a wallet-friendly deal. All the plans are customized to fit your dog’s unique dietary needs, too.

Bezzie is still a relatively new name on the American market, however, and it doesn’t deliver its fresh meals to every zip code. Another great meal delivery service for fresh dog food is The Farmer’s Dog. Read on to find out more about the benefits of Bezzie and it’s drawbacks.

Bezzie Meals

Plans and Recipes

There are 3 types of foods you can order from Bezzie: fresh, fresh pantry, and dry. The last 2 are shelf-stable. Thankfully, you don’t have to choose just one type. Bezzie offers combined half-and-half plans so you could get either fresh and fresh pantry, fresh and dry, or fresh pantry and dry meals in the same order.

While the recipes weren’t devised by a pet dietitian or nutritionist like those from Ollie, all of Bezzie’s meals have been approved by Dr. Laura Catena, a registered veterinarian who has extensive knowledge about pet nutrition. They don’t contain any artificial flavorings or GMOs and are packed with clean, whole food ingredients. 

Bezzie’s plans are completely personalized. After completing a brief quiz about your dog, Bezzie will calculate the number of calories it needs in a day and you’ll get that amount of food individually packaged. The recipes themselves can’t be customized, but they’re very accommodating for different types of dogs.

All of the recipes are free of wheat, corn, and soy, which makes them a great fit for dogs with allergies. Some contain whole grains like brown rice, and others are grain-free. 2 of the 3 fresh recipes use quinoa as a carb source, which is easier for dogs to digest and caters to those pups with sensitive stomachs or grain allergies.

You’ll find 3 fresh recipes, 2 fresh pantry recipes, and 3 dry meals to choose from. Let’s take a look at all of them:

Fresh

Choose from Fresh Chicken and Brown Rice, Fresh Pork and Quinoa, and Fresh Beef and Quinoa. All the meals are human-grade and cooked at low temperatures to maintain nutrients. Once cooked, they’re chilled, and you’ll need to store them in the freezer on arrival.

The chicken dish contains chicken, brown rice, broccoli, carrots, kale, and sunflower oil, while the grain-free pork recipe features pork, sweet potato, quinoa, green beans, sunflower oil, broccoli, and carrots.

The grain-free beef recipe contains beef, beef liver, quinoa, broccoli, green beans, carrots, apples, and pumpkin. All the meals also contain supplements like vitamins E, B1, B2, B6, B12, D3, and folic acid – all of which are important for your pup’s optimal health.

Fresh pantry 

The fresh pantry recipes are both fresh yet shelf-stable. They contain lean meats and veggies and come in two variants: chicken and beef.

There’s a chicken recipe that features chicken, chicken liver, peas, and carrots as the main ingredients. The protein is great for muscles and joints, while the peas and carrots add fiber and vitamins that help with skin, heart, and eye health – and, of course, digestion.

The beef recipe features beef, beef liver, spinach, and sweet potato. The meat and liver help support lean muscle mass, while the sweet potato and spinach add fiber to keep your dog full for longer and aid digestion.

In addition to the whole ingredients, these meals have added minerals, vitamins, and amino acids to ensure complete nutrition for your pup and provide immunity support.

Dry

The dry food is similar to kibble, but it's made with higher-quality ingredients and added probiotics for a happy and healthy gut. Choose from salmon, lamb, or chicken “bites” – all of which are grain-free.

The salmon bites feature wild-caught salmon – a great source of essential amino- and fatty- acids that can help improve your pup’s skin and fur.

The lamb dish features lamb as a novel protein source for sensitive pups and it’s both high in amino acids and low in saturated fat. This can help improve muscle and heart health.

The chicken bites are made from sustainably-raised chicken and eggs as the main protein sources, which help support muscles and joints, but also eye health.

These recipes are also packed with superfoods like bok choy, flax, blueberries, and yucca extract, which are a great aid for immunity and digestion. They also contain added minerals and vitamins, like iron, magnesium, and vitamin C.

Ingredients

The ingredients in all Bezzie recipes are sustainably sourced from North America. They’re fully traceable and meet the USDA standards for human consumption – known as human-grade. Basically, you too could eat Bezzie without any problems (apart from the fact you probably have something more appetizing in the fridge!). This is the same grade of ingredients that you get with a service such as The Farmer’s Dog.

Since all the recipes feature core ingredients, you can interchange them without causing any issues. This is great if your dog tends to crave something different after a while. Plus, rotating the recipes means your dog can benefit from the nutrients in each type of protein.

However, it’s worth nothing that if your dog is used to more mainstream food brands – which can be full of empty calories – its stomach might need some time to adjust. 

Bezzie recommends a 1-2 week adjustment period, during which you can add more and more Bezzie food to your dog’s current diet. Start with around a quarter of Bezzie food in your pet’s bowl for a couple of days and increase it bit by bit.

Here’s an example recipe, so you know what to expect from each dish. This recipe is for the dry salmon bites: 

All the “fermentation products” listed are probiotics, which are important for a healthy gut. This, in turn, helps strengthen your dog’s immune system and maintain overall health. You’ll also spot foods like salmon oil, blueberries, and pineapple (which can help aid digestion).

Nutrition

All Bezzie meals are cooked at low temperatures over a long period of time so both the nutrients and flavor are retained. This also helps the texture to stay moist, making it easier for your furry friend to eat. The cooking is done by hand in USA-based kitchens. 

To see the nutrition information of a typical Bezzie meal, let’s take a look at the Guaranteed Analysis on the Fresh Pork and Quinoa recipe:

Crude protein: 9.39% min
Crude fat: 4.84% min
Crude fiber: 1.73% max
Moisture: 75.47% max
Calorie content: 1,009 kcals per kg

The moisture is high, making it a pleasant texture for your pet to eat. The fiber content is high, ensuring smooth digestion, while the high protein percentage means there’s enough meat in there to keep your dog full and support muscle growth. 

Those numbers are similar for all the fresh and fresh pantry recipes. For the dry bites, they look like this:

Crude protein: 28% min
Crude fat: 14% min
Crude fiber: 5.2% max
Moisture: 10% max
Calorie content: 3,510 kcals per kg

The lower moisture ensures a crunchy texture, while the protein is respectively appropriate. However, note that the dry bites don’t meet the AAFCO standards for growing puppies or dogs over 70lb, so you’ll need to make sure they’re getting protein from other sources.

What Makes It Different

These are just some of the things that make Bezzie stand out from the various other pet food delivery services out there:

Shelf-stable, human-grade meals

The fresh pantry meals from Bezzie are both unusual and convenient. Many other pet food delivery services focus on fresh meals and dry food, or both, but Bezzie’s hybrid offerings are perfect for when travelling, or if you’re limited on freezer space. You’ll also benefit from the fresh pantry offerings if you have a dog that requires generous portions. 

Affordable

Bezzie offers a combination of high-quality ingredients and value for money. You get healthy dog food at a great price. It’s not as cheap as mainstream dog food, but it’s cheaper than many other services that provide human-grade food.

Locally sourced ingredients

All Bezzie’s ingredients are sourced in North America. Everything comes from trusted suppliers who use sustainable practices, so you can rest assured that your dog’s food is environmentally friendly as well as healthy. All meals are cooked and packed here, too.

Even top services like Ollie source some ingredients from other continents, which leaves a higher carbon footprint.

Unboxing

Your dog’s meals will arrive neatly organized in cardboard boxes. You can find all the nutritional information on the packaging and on the Bezzie website.

On arrival, you should store fresh recipes in the freezer and allow them to thaw in the fridge for 12 hours before feeding them to your dog. If you’re in a hurry, you can place it in a bowl of warm water to speed up the process. After you’ve thawed a fresh meal, you should use it within 4 days.

The fresh meals contain all the food your pet needs in a single day. Bezzie recommends splitting this amount over 2 portions so your dog can eat twice a day. In the freezer, the fresh recipes can be stored for up to 6 months. 

The dry and fresh pantry recipes come individually packed, too. They’re shelf-stable, which means you don’t have to put them in the fridge or freezer – a dark, dry cupboard will do. Once you’ve opened the fresh pantry tetra-paks you should reseal them and put them in the fridge and they can be eaten within 5 days. The tetra-paks are recyclable and BPA-free.

Prices

The price for a Bezzie subscription varies since it’s customized for your dog’s needs. For smaller dogs, you’ll pay a lot less, since they require fewer calories.

Bezzie subscriptions start From $1.36 per day per day. Your first order will be a trial box with 2 weeks’ worth of food, however, so you’ll need to be happy to make that initial investment.

Prices also vary based on the types of meals you choose. The fresh pork recipes cost more than the fresh pantry chicken and/or beef recipes, while the fresh chicken recipe is less expensive than both the fresh pork recipe and the fresh pantry chicken. Confusing, I know, but I’ll provide some numbers below for reference…

The dry food is the cheapest option, so you could choose a mixed dry and fresh/fresh pantry plan to cut down on the total price. (Note that you won’t be able to select dry food only for your starter box, though).

For a moderately active 5lb pup, the 2-week starter box is $17.21 for the fresh pork and chicken mix (compared to $16.20 for chicken only and $24.64 for just pork) and $18.20 for any fresh pantry plan.

If you combine them with dry food, you’ll pay $13.91 for fresh and dry (pork and chicken mix for fresh and any combination of dry), and $12.50 for fresh pantry and dry (any combination).

For a 90lb German Shepherd, you could expect to pay around $153.40 for the 2-week starter box of fresh pantry meals. Remember, for dogs over 70lb, this is your only option.

For a 40lb pet, you’re likely going to pay – on average – around $5 to $6 per day for fresh or fresh pantry food, though you can cut this cost in half if you mix it with dry food.

After your first order, you can purchase dry-only plans (if you have a dog under 70lb), which are even more affordable.

You’ll also need to pay a flat shipping fee of $9.99 per box. If you require more frequent orders, or have multiple dogs, these fees will add up. You might be better with a service like The Farmer’s Dog, which offers free shipping.

Shipping & Delivery

Bezzie ships to 98% of the continental USA. Before you sign up, you’ll be asked to enter your zip code so you can see if you’re in the service area. If not, you can opt to receive an email notification for when Bezzie starts shipping there.

Even if your zip code checks out, it doesn’t mean you can order every Bezzie product. I noticed that if you’re in Texas, for example, you can order across all the plans, including the fresh meals. For other places, such as LA, you can only select fresh pantry meals.

So, while it’s true that most American customers can benefit from Bezzie’s healthy recipes, only certain areas can order the fresh meals. I assume they’re closer to the kitchens where the meals are cooked, and it’s a logistics issue – though I hope that as Bezzie expands, more kitchens will open across the country and this problem will be solved.

You can choose your delivery day based on your location. For a Texas zip code, for example, I had 3 days to choose from: Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

You can change your delivery day and frequency after your first order (the starter box which contains 2 weeks’ worth of food). You can also change your address and shipping details anytime, which makes it easy to take Bezzie with you on vacation.

Currently, Bezzie ships all boxes with Fedex. After the box leaves the center, you’ll get a tracking number by email. Unfortunately, Bezzie doesn’t have an app yet.

How Bezzie Works

The signup process is really straightforward and, though you’ll need to answer some questions when you sign up, it’s nothing too overwhelming – just enough to get customized plans.

How to Sign Up

1. Go to the Bezzie website and click on Get Started.

2. Insert your zip code to see if Bezzie delivers to you.

3. Add your pet(s) and complete the customization quiz for each. You’ll need to enter each dog’s name, breed, sex, age, weight, neuter/spay status, if it’s still growing or already an adult, and its activity level.

4. Add your name and email address.

5. Choose your desired recipes from the available options. 

6. Review your order. At this point, you can add another pup if you haven’t before and complete the customization quiz again or go to checkout.

7. Fill in your payment info and account details. Done!

Managing Your Subscription

I like that you can see Bezzie’s menu before signing up so you can get familiar with the recipes. Once you are logged in, editing or canceling your subscription can be done directly in your Account Center at any time. This includes changing your delivery or billing address, or skipping an order.

After your initial trial box, your subscription automatically activates, so pay attention if you want to edit or cancel it. You also need to take into account that Bezzie bills you for your next order around 4 to 7 days in advance, so if you cancel your order you need to make sure to do it before the money is taken from your account.

I also appreciate that Bezzie has a PayPal payment option in addition to the usual credit card for extra flexibility.

Customer Service

You can contact Bezzie’s customer support via phone, email, or social media. The team is available Monday through Thursday, 9 am to 11 pm; Friday, 9 am to 10 pm; and Saturday, 9 am to 9 pm EST.

The FAQ section can help you find answers to the most common issues or questions, but it’s not very detailed, in my opinion. Fortunately, customer service is reliable and very polite.

I had a great time talking with Bezzie's customer service through email. I got a response in less than 30 minutes, which is pretty good since they usually say it could take up to 24 hours. The representative was very polite and gave me a helpful answer.

Bezzie also advertises that you can “slide into DMs” on Instagram. When I did this, however, it took a bit longer to get an initial reply (around 8 hours). The team was just as helpful though, and the follow-up response took half an hour. So, if you don’t have anything urgent to ask, you can definitely use Instagram.

It's reassuring to know that you can reach out to customer support without any obligations. Even though I was not a paying customer when I communicated with the representatives, I received a prompt response. Additionally, the message wasn't filled with sales pitches or attempts to persuade me to become a customer, which I always find commendable.

Bezzie Recalls

Good news here! Bezzie has never had any recalls on any of its recipes.

How Bezzie Compares to Other Pet Food Services

The Farmer's Dog is my top alternative to Bezzie. It offers 4 fresh, human-grade recipes formulated by Board-Certified veterinary nutritionists, as well as a DIY nutrient mix for those who want to cook their dog’s food from scratch. Unlike Bezzie, it also delivers across the continental US with no expensive shipping fees.

Ollie is another great alternative that delivers to all 48 lower states for free. As well as its 4 fresh human-grade meals, it also offers “baked” food, which is equivalent to Bezzie’s dry bites. Just like Bezzie, Ollie offers combined half-plans of both wet and dry food. It also includes free food containers and scoops in its starter boxes.

Nom Nom delivers human-grade pet food to all 48 continental states, with zero shipping fees. It also offers cat food, so if you have both pups and kitties at home you can feed them both with one order. Plus, Nom Nom has two Board-Certified veterinary nutritionists on its team. 

The Bottom Line: Is Bezzie Worth It?

Bezzie definitely offers good value for your buck. If you take into account how reasonable the prices are for the dry food in particular, and how sustainable and high-quality the ingredients are, switching from regular kibble to Bezzie is already a big win.

The fresh and fresh pantry meals are a bit more expensive, but they provide great nutrition customized for your pup. Plus, you can mix and match dry and fresh meals in your order, which can make the total price more accessible.

But since Bezzie’s fresh meals aren't available in all locations,  you could try Ollie or The Farmer’s Dog. Both are well-known services that delivers fresh human-grade dog meals nationwide. It offers a half-plan combining fresh and baked food, so you get a variety that’s similar to Bezzie’s, too.

FAQ

Is Bezzie dog food affordable?

Bezzie is an affordable choice compared to other human-grade dog food services. Pricing depends on which plan you choose, which protein sources, and the unique dietary requirements of your dog. All in all, the dry food option is the cheapest, but you can combine the dry plan with a fresh plan to keep costs down and get the best of both worlds.

Is Bezzie a healthy choice for dogs?

Yes, Bezzie offers healthy dog food packed with nutrients and superfoods. It’s free from wheat, soy, and corn, so it caters to pups with allergies, too. The diverse protein sources and meal types appeal even to picky eaters. You should also see an improvement in your dog’s health and appearance if you switch to Bezzie from a mainstream food brand.

Does Bezzie deliver dog food to the US?

Yes, Bezzie delivers within the US. The service covers 98% of the continental US and you can enter your zip code on the website to check if you’re in the area. However, you should know that some fresh plans are only available to certain zip codes, so if you’re far away from the Bezzie kitchens, you might only be able to benefit from its shelf-stable meals.