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Has anyone had any issue lately with Applaws Dried Food?

Despite no apparent notifications on the packaging it seems that the recipe has changed over the last 12 months - I've been feeding it to my 3 for a couple of years and mid-last year I started to notice that the kibble had become a lot darker and smaller (higher meat content perhaps?) and the last 2 packets of Chicken with Extra Duck smell just awful so I've been looking online and noticed quite a few bad reviews for recent purchases.

The cats are eating it without too much trouble and their stomachs are ok but I think one of my 3 furries (Bagheera) might not be tolerating the new recipe very well - fur licking and some fur loss. I'm only linking the issues to food because in Sept/Oct time we had 2 packets which seemed to be (I am thinking now) the original recipe (nicer blander kibble) and her fur came back to normal. But since those packets ran out the fur licking seems to have resumed.

I've reported this to Applaws - who are looking into it - but I just wondered if others have noticed any differences?

Yes, mine have been ignoring the dry chicken applaws since I opened a new packet. I realised there was a hideous smell and having first washed the throws they sleep on, realised it was coming from the food instead! Yuk. It used not to smell much and be larger, round pieces. I wonder if it's a bad batch?

A few months back I bought some sample packets of Applaws just to get free delivery on my order, and I too noticed the very small size of kibble, but no bad smell (and I have a super-sensitive nose.)

I thought I'd be giving my lot a high-quality treat, but soon I realised they were picking out their usual Purina One from the Applaws and weren't impressed with it at all, so I won't be buying THAT again, despite it being cereal-free, high end and all the rest of it.

It got eaten eventually, but - paws down from my gang. They went mad over a free sample packet of bog-standard supermarket bikkies

This was the reply I had from them following their investigation:
"Applaws is known for the high quality of its food – it’s a reputation we’re proud of.
Our investigation using the information that you produced has confirmed a change in the odour and taste on a limited number of batches of Applaws dry cat. We can assure you that this food meets the highest safety standards but we acknowledge a different colour, taste and odour to our regular kibble.
We have identified the problem and have put in place checks, to ensure that it cannot happen again."

I received a full refund from Zooplus without a problem but I noticed a couple of other recent bad reviews there too. I've changed to Purizon now.

Yes, Purizon is favoured here too. I bought some Applaws to try again last summer,but there was little/no interest in it. Kasper goes mad for the fish flavour Purizon and he has the chicken and fish one as treats. They are 'Dreamies' to him

I initially bought a small 400g bag of Purizon chicken for them to try - Bagheera especially went nuts for them (she thinks the small packet means its a treat!) so then I bought the 6kg bag... hmmmmm silly me!! She's eating them but she's not as thrilled!! She likes the other flavours too but the smaller the packet the tastier they seem to be

Oh we've all been there! I did try mine with Applaws dry, as they love the tins, but they were not that fussed about it.

the smaller the packet the tastier they seem to be

How true! Think that is why Tilly likes the Sheba Fresh Choice and Gourmet Mini Fillets that come in 50g sachets. Tilly likes Applaws wet but is not at all keen on the dry - last time I got any it ended up with the local cat rescue.

I had issues with applaws last year, there were rogue kibbles in there. Like a few biscuits that were clearly not applaws or encore. When I called them about the encore issues they were aware - apparently they were having issues with the factory in France not cleaning the production line between different brands. Also found rogue kibble in a bag of applaws, didn't bother calling them just switched to Thrive and AATU. Which are pricey but no rogue kibble.

That's a bit worrying There could be anything in there!

Yes, although the woman I spoke to assured me that it was perfectly safe for my cat to eat the rest of the encore bag.