Canstar Blue’s 2021 block cheese review has seen Cracker Barrel, Great Ocean Road, Cheer, ALDI Westacre, Jarlsberg, Perfect Italiano, Mainland, Bega, Coles, Woolworths and Hillview compared on taste, variety, packaging design, value for money and overall satisfaction.
Cracker Barrel was rated best in Canstar Blue’s latest block cheese review, scoring five stars for taste, variety and overall satisfaction.
No fridge would be complete without a nice big block of cheese, ready to use whenever it’s called upon. Whether you eat it in sandwiches, on toast, with a larger meal, or simply on its own, cheese has become part of the regular weekly shop for many Aussie families. But with so many different products crammed into supermarket fridges, finding the cheese that tickles the right tastebuds takes quite a lot of trial and error. You may enjoy trying different cheeses, but if you want to cut straight to your new favourite slice, our customer satisfaction review is worth considering.
For our 2021 ratings, we surveyed more than 1,100 consumers for their feedback on the supermarket block cheese they most recently bought and ate. Survey respondents rated brands on taste, texture, range variety, packaging design, value for money and overall satisfaction. Those that received the minimum required survey sample size of 30 responses are included in our report. So, what did we find?
Cracker Barrel has returned to the top of our ratings, having first won our customer satisfaction award in 2019. It rated best for taste, variety and overall satisfaction.
Here are the best block cheese brands in Australia, as rated by consumers in Canstar Blue’s 2021 review:
Cracker Barrel took the lead with five stars for overall satisfaction, with most other brands achieving four stars. There were three exceptions, Coles, Woolworths and Hillview which scored three stars overall.
Meanwhile, ALDI’s Westacre range got the edge over all brands for value for money, earning full marks, similar to Perfect Italiano when it came to packaging.
It seems Aussies fancy themselves as cheese connoisseurs, or maybe we just know what we like. After all, a whopping 62% of Aussies in our survey usually pick up cheese during their regular grocery shop. Either way, we’re a pretty hard bunch to please, as five-star ratings were not easily earned this year. Only five top accolades were received out of 11 brands and Cracker Barrel claimed three of them.
Our research found one in four (27%) survey respondents always buy the same brand of cheese, with over half (59%) trying multiple brands of cheese. Nearly a third (27%) said they enjoy trying different flavours, such as spicy variants.
When it comes to price, the survey revealed that only 20% buy the cheapest brand, meaning we don’t mind shelling out a few extra dollars for the cheese we really like.
Did you know Cracker Barrel designed its cheese to fit perfectly on a cracker? Plus, with 17 types of cheese to choose from, it’s no wonder many Aussies are eating up what the brand has to offer. This includes everything from sweet and creamy Gouda cheese, to rich and bold cheddar cheese. The brand additionally whips up a few exciting creations in its Infused range, transforming classics into flavours like cheddar cheese with jalapeno & honeycomb.
Some Cracker Barrel products you can find in supermarkets include:
Prices for Cracker Barrel cheese usually range between $5.15 and $10.30.
This report was written by Canstar Blue’s home & lifestyle journalist, Tahnee-Jae Lopez-Vito. She’s an expert on household appliances, grooming products and all things grocery and shopping. In addition to translating our expert research into consumer-friendly ratings reports, Tahnee spends her time helping consumers make better-informed purchase decisions on all manner of consumer goods and services, while highlighting the best deals and anything you need to be aware of.
Picture credit: Barmalini/ Shutterstock.com.
Canstar Blue surveyed 3,000 Australian adults across a range of categories to measure and track customer satisfaction, via ISO 26362 accredited research panels managed by Qualtrics. The outcomes reported are the results from customers within the survey group who have purchased and eaten block cheese from a packet (i.e. not from a deli) in the last three months – in this case, 1,135 people.
Brands must have received at least 30 responses to be included. Results are comparative and it should be noted that brands receiving three stars have still achieved a satisfaction measure of at least six out of 10. Not all brands available in the market have been compared in this survey. The ratings table is first sorted by star ratings and then by mean overall satisfaction. A rated brand may receive a ‘N/A’ (Not Applicable) rating if it does not receive the minimum number of responses for that criteria.
Here are some previous customer satisfaction award winners for block cheese:
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