Hi Aussie pet parents struggling to afford good quality pet food in these days of ridiculous rising costs and inflation 🤛🤛🤛

Did you know the average cost of pet food has increased around 14% year on year over the past few years?

That's a lot more than general inflation, but I might have a solution!

I don't know how it's been for you, but I'm finding more and more pet owners searching for a go-to dry food out of sheer necessity. Needless to say, the foods on my best rated list are expense for most (especially if you have a big hungry dog, multiple dogs, or a big mortgage).

This year I'm finding Black Hawk pet foods hard to ignore as a good choice for most of us.

But why?

If you've been reading my reviews over the past 10 years or so you may have realised Black Hawk had a semi decent rating, but it's definitely improved of late. I always saw Black Hawk as a good choice based on quality vs price, but couldn't ignore consumer feedback was somewhat mixed.

In recent years, feedback on Black Hawk has changed significantly, for the better.

And there's a good reason why.

In 2022, Black Hawk opened a brand new facility in Parkes NSW, for a whopping $80+ million bucks.

Here's a pic:

Since then, quality has clearly taken a step up.

As of 2025 we've also seen the introduction of the Black Hawk High Meat range of dry food (with an impressive 32% protein/18% fat compared to around 25% protein/17% fat in the regular recipes). They've also introduced an Air Dried range, although I have to say Eureka Pet is still my best recommendation for Aussie air-dried.

That means Black Hawk really hits the sweet spot - it's not the cheapest dry food, but it's definitely better than most dry foods in Australia. Compared to many, a lot better.

As a dry food it's not up there with brands like Frontier Pets, Lyka, et al, but a great strategy is to feed one (or some) of those top foods as well - as toppers or special meals - or raw/BARF/species-appropriate table scraps.

Let's take a look at the price...

Price wise, Black Hawk Original Lamb & Rice is $137.74 at Pet Circle, for a 20kg bag - that's a great price, around $0.7 per 100g!

The new High Meat range does cost a bit more (10kg bags max), but is currently 20% off during the introductory period at Pet Circle - might be worth trying?

What do you think? (Best option is to leave me a comment on one of the pages below!)

All the best,

David

Further reading:

• ​Black Hawk Dog Food Review​
• ​Black Hawk Air-Dried Dog Food Review​
• ​Best Affordable Dog Foods​
• ​Best Budget Dog Foods​