Works as a dog food expert and is a lifelong dog lover
Superior flexibility with Butternut Box: Their app allows quick changes to delivery dates, recipes, and portion sizes, while Bella & Duke’s subscription feels more restrictive and less adaptable.
Customer service experience differs: Butternut Box’s support proved fast and effective, whereas Bella & Duke’s chatbot often caused delays when pausing or adjusting subscriptions.
Sustainability contrast: Both brands face packaging challenges, but Butternut Box demonstrates stronger commitment with FSC-certified boxes, better insulation, and B Corp certification.
Best fit by dog type: Bella & Duke suits dogs thriving on raw, high-meat diets without sensitivities, while Butternut Box better serves dogs with digestive issues and owners who prioritise convenience.
Final outcome: For Luna, Butternut Box delivered better digestion, easier feeding routines, and overall value, making it the preferred choice despite Bella & Duke’s strong raw food quality.
| Criteria | Butternut Box | Bella & Duke |
|---|---|---|
| Ingredient quality | 5/5 | 5/5 |
| Nutritional value | 4/5 | 5/5 |
| Value for money | 5/5 | 4/5 |
| Digestibility | 5/5 | 4/5 |
| Reliability | 5/5 | 4/5 |
| Average | 4,8/5 | 4,4/5 |
Having tested both brands with Luna over several months, I can finally share a proper comparison between Butternut Box and Bella & Duke. Luna, my 6-year-old chocolate Labrador, tried both for a couple of months each, and the differences were fascinating to discover.
When the first deliveries arrived, the difference in approach was immediately apparent. Bella & Duke delivered frozen raw food in practical containers, whilst Butternut Box sent freshly cooked meals in pre-portioned pouches. Luna’s reaction was positive to both brands – she sniffed enthusiastically at both boxes, though she seemed slightly more curious about the Butternut Box packaging.
Unpacking Bella & Duke felt rather messy. The packaging gets soggy after defrosting and the paper wrapper isn’t resealable. With Butternut Box, the pouches were neatly labelled with Luna’s name and exact portion sizes, making feeding much more straightforward.
Bella & Duke clearly wins on meat percentage with 86% meat, bones and organ meat versus Butternut Box’s 60% fresh meat. This is a significant difference that shows in the nutritional value. Bella & Duke’s meat comes from grass-fed beef and free-range pork, which is impressive.
Butternut Box also uses human-grade meat, but combines this with more vegetables and healthy carbohydrates like sweet potatoes and lentils. For Luna, who’s prone to carrying a few extra pounds (typical Labrador!), this balanced approach from Butternut Box actually worked better.
Both brands offer good variety:
Luna enjoyed the diversity at Butternut Box. She got different flavours like ‘Beef It Up’, ‘Chicken You Out’ and the surprising ‘You’ve Got Game’ with venison. At Bella & Duke the options were more limited, though the available flavours were excellent quality.
In the first few weeks, Luna was incredibly enthusiastic about both brands – her bowl was empty in no time, regardless of which brand was in it. Bella & Duke’s raw food had that natural appeal of fresh meat, and she’d dive in as if she hadn’t eaten for days.
With Butternut Box, the reaction was just as positive. Where she used to eat her old dry food half-heartedly and often leave her bowl half full, the Butternut Box meals were always gone within minutes. The cooked food smelled delicious, a bit like homemade stew, and Luna would start wagging as soon as I brought out the pouches.
This was the most striking difference. With Bella & Duke, Luna had loose stools for the first two weeks – normal when transitioning to raw food, but not ideal. Her sensitive stomach clearly needed time to adjust.
With Butternut Box, the transition went much more smoothly. Within a week she had smaller, firmer stools and less trouble with wind – a blessing indoors! The cooked food with 90-96% protein digestibility proved perfect for her sensitive digestion.
With both brands I saw Luna’s energy increase. With Bella & Duke this was most noticeable in the first month – she was markedly more alert during walks. With Butternut Box the energy built up more gradually, but remained more consistent.
Here Bella & Duke scored excellently. After 6 weeks on raw food, Luna’s coat became visibly shinier and felt softer. Her skin also seemed less dry.
Butternut Box also gave improvements, but these were more subtle. After 8 weeks her coat was healthier, but lacked that extra shine the raw food provided. Butternut Box’s scientific studies do show they improve the skin barrier, which is important long-term.
For Luna’s tendency towards being overweight, Butternut Box proved the better choice. Their personalised portion calculation worked brilliantly – she gradually lost 1.5kg of excess weight without being hungry. The algorithm perfectly adjusted portions to her needs.
With Bella & Duke it was harder to determine the right amount. The guideline of 2-3% body weight didn’t work optimally for Luna’s specific situation.
Bella & Duke requires more planning. The food must defrost in the fridge for 24 hours before you can serve it. If you forget this, you’re stuck. Also handling raw meat requires extra hygiene measures.
Butternut Box defrosts faster and can be placed in warm water if needed. The pre-portioned pouches make it incredibly simple – open packet, into bowl, done. For my busy schedule, this was a significant plus.
Both brands require considerable freezer space. Bella & Duke delivers in bulk (4-20kg boxes), so you really need a large freezer. Butternut Box’s pouches stack more efficiently but still take up space.
One practical downside of Butternut Box: once opened, the pouches are difficult to store. Bella & Duke at least provides a handy container for the fridge.
For Luna it worked out to:
There’s quite a substantial difference here, which makes sense as Bella & Duke works with organ meat.
Butternut Box is considerably more affordable – roughly £50-60 per month cheaper for a dog Luna’s size. Over a year that’s over £600 difference, which isn’t insignificant.
Additionally, I can offer 50% off your first two Butternut Box orders, making it incredibly affordable to try.
Butternut Box’s service was exceptional. When I wanted to postpone a delivery once, I could sort it myself within minutes via the app. Their customer service team was friendly and knowledgeable.
At Bella & Duke I had mixed experiences. The AI chatbot ‘Digby’ for changes didn’t always work smoothly. When I wanted to pause the subscription temporarily for holiday, this took unnecessarily much effort.
Butternut Box clearly wins here. You can adjust delivery dates up to 2 days beforehand, change recipes, and adjust portion sizes via a user-friendly app.
Bella & Duke only works with fixed subscriptions without one-off purchase options. This sometimes felt restrictive, especially when we wanted to experiment with different quantities.
Bella & Duke uses minimal packaging, which is good, but their plastic containers aren’t recyclable in normal household recycling.
Butternut Box has FSC-certified boxes and their insulation material is more sustainable. Their pouches unfortunately aren’t recyclable either, but they’re actively working on alternatives. As a B Corp certified company, they take sustainability slightly more seriously.
After months of testing with Luna, I must conclude that Butternut Box is the better choice for us. This doesn’t mean Bella & Duke is poor – quite the opposite, it’s excellent high-quality raw food.
But the combination of Luna’s improved digestion, the convenience, and the lower price makes Butternut Box the winner. Luna’s consistent energy, healthy weight, and especially her enthusiasm at every meal confirms this choice.
Butternut Box’s cooked food offers the best of both worlds: the benefits of fresh food without the complexity of raw. For Luna’s sensitive stomach and my busy life, this is the perfect match.
If you’re considering between these two brands, I’d recommend trying both. For more comparisons with Butternut Box, see also our Butternut Box vs Years review. But if you have to choose, I’d start with Butternut Box – especially if your dog, like Luna, has a sensitive stomach or you value convenience without compromising on quality.
