Last Updated on February 19, 2024 by Indy the Cat
History
Earlier in 2022, we sold some cat food to a gentleman working on a new brand of cat treat. This brand goes by the name Fureeze and was developed and launched in Australia last year. In fact, the head office is here in Melbourne!
As a new brand, there isn’t much history to discuss, so let’s take a look at quick look at their product focus. Currently offering a single product, Fureeze focuses on freeze dried chicken breast. Being a simple meat food product, it’s suitable for both canines and felines. Freeze dried pet foods are growing in popularity as owners seek alternatives to conventional dry cat foods. Let’s dig a little further.
Recalls
To date, Fureeze pet food has not been recalled. In Australia, pet food recalls are only mandatory for brands that have decided to work within the Australian Standard for Manufacturing and Marketing of Pet Food (Standard AS5812:2017). All members of the Pet Food Industry Association of Australia comply with these standards and at the time of publishing, Fureeze is not a member of the Association.
Product Line Commentary
Today, we are looking at the Fureeze freeze dried chicken breast pet food. While it is often labelled as a pet treat, we consider freeze dried chicken breast as a healthy treat or a topper. Similar to feeding cooked chicken breast, it is nutritionally incomplete so cannot be fed as a primary pet food. We have examined another freeze dried product before such as the freeze dried Lamb treats from Meat Mates, which serves as a useful comparison point.
Freeze dried foods are created through a process known as freeze drying. It’s exactly as it sounds. First the food is frozen, then it is stored in a vacuum to dry out most of the moisture. Moreover, this type of food has far less processing and preserves far more nutrients compared to conventional methods for kibble and other dry foods.
Generally freeze dried food/treats can be rehydrated with some water if you choose to do so. If you choose to rehydrate the food, it’s always a nice way to add water to a cat’s routine. For those that are apprehensive about feeding a raw diet, this food also taps into the raw diet inspiration, so you can feel good about feeding a more natural diet.
Local Sourced Ingredients and Manufacturing
The human grade chicken used in Fureeze is sourced from a free range farm in Tasmania. They have provided some information about the farm on their website including the fact that they have been in operation since 1988 and that the chickens have 24/7 access to pastures (well above the normal “8 hours required”). Since their manufacturing is also based in Australia, this is essentially a 100% Australian created product and that is always fantastic to see!
Some other notables are that no preservatives or additives are used and since the main protein is chicken breast, there’s nothing to hide in terms of irregular meat/protein sources. The product itself claims itself to have a 25 year shelf life (which we find a bit excessive), but we have our doubts. While the theoretical limit may be very long, we would question whether this could withstand appropriate conditions in a real world example. It is best to use it within the best before date and/or finish the package within a few weeks of opening it.
Efforts in Social Responsibility and Sustainability
Beyond sourcing local Australian ingredients and manufacturing the product in Australia, Fureeze makes an effort in social responsibility as well. They donate 3% of the profits to Australian charities even though they are a new small business. As this is their first year in operation, it is unclear which charities they will be focusing on, but it would be great if they can name the specific charities on their website at the end of the financial year.
The other consideration that Fureeze makes is an effort in sustainable packaging. They refer to this as designing the packaging in accordance with SDG goals. Originally, the first version of the product came in a compostable package, which was a nice choice as it stood out from its competition. However the second iteration sees it swapped for soft plastics that is marked as recyclable. Unfortunately with Redcycle stopping its recycling program, consumers have few options for properly recycling this packaging. We would love to see Fureeze return to the compostable packaging or find alternatives other than soft plastics as soft plastic recycling continues to present an uncertain future.
All that being said, Fureeze is still a quality product in a competitive product space. At 4.3kcal per g (converting the 1809 to kcal), there is quite a decent caloric content in this treat. Despite a lack of guaranteed analysis, this would likely be considered a high protein, low fat, and low carbohydrate cat food.
Guaranteed analysis
Fureeze does not provide a Guaranteed Analysis. Instead they offer a nutritional information profile which offers a different nutritional perspective.
Nutritional Information
All values based on average quantity per 100g
Energy – 1809 KJ
Protein – 82g
Fat – 11g
Carbohydrate – 0g
Sodium – 130mg
Where to Buy and Cost
Fureeze is only available online via their store at the price of $24.95/pack (100g). They are currently working on getting their product into stores in addition to their online store. At this price point, it is considered an expensive premium product. Other freeze dried chicken breast products may not offer all the benefits such as free range chicken but are often less than $20 for the same size product.
Ingredient List
Chicken Breast
Nutritional Information
Chicken Breast – source of meat protein
Indy’s Review
So does Indy the cat like it?
Yes, Indy enjoys the chicken as much as much as enjoys cooked chicken! He was purring and desperately trying to break into the package when we first took it out. For cats that are fast eaters like Indy, you may have to break up the chicken pieces and make a bit of a mess.
Compared to other treats, this one sits in the middle in terms of how “crazy” he goes for it.
The good
- Simple single protein (that is still visibly similar to its original form!)
- Freeze dried processing is a preferred processing method for dried foods
- Very species appropriate treat with no additives or junk ingredients
- Easily adopted by Indy in terms of palatability
The bad
- Expensive
- Only available online through their store
Rating
- Species appropriate (weight 0.3) – 10 / 10
- Ingredients (weight 0.3) – 9 / 10
- Recall Track record (weight 0.2) – 10 / 10
- Price (weight 0.2) – 7 / 10
Average Score – 9 / 10
Weighted Score – 9.1 / 10
The Bottom Line: Locally sourced species appropriate treats that should be a hit with many cats!
If you spot an error in this article, please do not hesitate to let us know!
