I had a letter and breeder info yesterday from Royal Canin advising of the changes in bag sizes and price increases from 1st May 2012.
I have just gone on the website to place my order before the changes and the prices have already increased. Talk about being quick off the mark !!!

Mine came yesterday too.  I have stopped ordering from them altogether.  My last litter was reared on Fish4Dogs puppy food, and they loved it.  Great customer service and often have good deals on.  I loved RC but they have outpriced me.  If I only had 3 or 4 dogs I might feel differently, but they are just out of my income bracket!  :-(

To be honest the price increase is not that great, it looks worse as they have increased the size of the bags and increased the price accordingly.
But as it says on the letter, effective 1st May I thought orders up to then would be at the previous prices.
I am reluctant to change as the food suits my dogs and one previously had Anal Gland problems, but she has been on this for the last four years and never needed to see the vet, previously we had to have them emptied and she had a couple of episodes when she needed antibiotics so I don't want to go down that road again.
I think I will ring them tomorrow and see what is going on.

Who owns Royal Canin now ?

On all the letters and pack it say's Crown Pet Foods Ltd.

A lot of dog foods are being acquired by bigger brands and getting more expensive and actually using cheaper product to increase margins.

Try symply. Great food. Still a sensible price and they offer a breeder offer so you can get a massive load of food for not too much. Have a look at the ingredients. Great quality!

If i were you i'd contact your rep, 1st May should mean 1st May NOT before.

Spoke to RC they have already gone over to 20kg bags the price per kg is still the same and you can now order one 20kg bag at a time. The price increase is efective from 1st May, but you can now no longer order the 17kg breeder bags.
The price increase is not that much, but if you are ordering several bags as I do, it does mean an increased outlay, also 20kg is a lot of food to get through so I am concerned about how long I would have a bag open.
If you have several dogs all on the same food I guess you would use it quickly, but if you have different sizes, ages and needs then one dog is going to take a while to get through 20kg.
I think I will be having a look at some of the food threads on here for alternative food. It seems to be that RC are now gearing things to the large scale breeders and kennels and don't want us hobby breeders.

Goldsovergn just looked at the Simply website and the price for Adult large breed 12kg bag was almost as expensive as a 20kg bag from Royal Canin.
I am at WELKS this weekend so I think I will have a chat with some of the other food companies and see what they can offer.

Did you look at the breeder discount? If you order 4 x 12kg bag of food you get it discounted to 27 quid a bag with free delivery

It's only going up by about a pound so it's not a drastic increase.  And a 20Kg bag is around the £45 pound mark for mum and pups.  I think that's OK for the quality of food it is and the pups love it so much that theres hardly any waste.  And, no, I'm not a rep of RC, just a fan!
I have tried different foods both high quality and budget end but I find nothing gets eaten or puts the weight on like RC.
Thanks for the tip about the prices though, went on today and ordered my next few months!!

Cracar I do not want to change and would not for the sake of a couple of quid, but the size of the bags are a bit of a problem, as I have different sizes and ages.
But I am pleased with my dogs condition they all have lovely shiny coats at the moment and as I say the sensible seems to suit them.
Strange that they did not do the change all in one go.
I wonder if you can buy that size air tight containers that are hard to get into, my lot can open anything !!
At the moment I take out enough food for a few days, and then fold over the top tight and tape it down, and store it in a room that they don't go in without me.

I got a container from pedigree about a million years ago that holds just over 15kg.  The bag I've ordered for mum and pups is 20kg so what I will do is pour as much in the container as I can and then use the rest in the bag first.  It's not an airtight container but it does keep the biscuits till they are used.

Depending on which Royal Canin you use, I buy mine from Amazon (yes the book co) and because I buy on the "Subscribe and Save" whereby I have it set to send me another bag at a pre-set intervals, I get each bag at a lower price than I can buy it wholesale.

My big bag of Medium Sensible has just cost me £ 39.14, I think the RRP is £52.

You can cancel at any time

Jaspersmum, I just looked at this on Amazon. Looks fab and I've signed up - Just wanted to say Thanx

You're welcome.  It does say it could change price but I'm on about the 3rd bag and each has been within a few pence.  Unfortunately the Royal Canin Medium Adult isn't on the same deal but I've still scouted round and got it £10 cheaper than Pets at Home

Hi ..Royal Canin is owned now by Mars .. who also own pedigree chum .... they seem to be changing the ingredients on some of their dog food ..lets hope they dont put profit before quality but i have my doubts