Canstar Blue’s latest block cheese review compares Mersey Valley, Devondale, Mainland, Cracker Barrel, Great Ocean Road, Bega, Hillview, Perfect Italiano, Woolworths, Cheer, ALDI Westacre, and Coles on taste, texture, variety, packaging design, value for money and overall satisfaction.
Mersey Valley was rated best in Canstar Blue’s block cheese ratings, scoring five-star reviews for taste, texture, 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.
We surveyed more than 1,200 consumers for their feedback on the supermarket block cheese(s) they most recently bought and consumed (within the last three months). Survey respondents rated brands on taste, texture, range variety, packaging design, value for money and overall satisfaction. Brands that received the minimum required survey sample size of 30 responses are included in our report. So, what did we find?
Mersey Valley came in first place after receiving five-star reviews in most research categories, including overall satisfaction!
Here are the best block cheese brands in Australia, as rated by consumers in Canstar Blue’s latest review:
Mersey Valley did a ‘gouda’ job with satisfying Aussie tastebuds, rating five stars for taste, texture, variety, and overall satisfaction. ALDI’s Westacre stole the spotlight for value for money, scoring full marks, as did Mainland when judged on packaging design. Mainland and former winner Cracker Barrel similarly received five stars for taste, texture (joining Cheer), and variety alongside Great Ocean Road.
Mersey Valley prides itself on churning out a variety of cheddar cheeses with what they describe as a bold vintage cheddar flavour and unique crumbly texture. It offers several melt-in-your-mouth flavours, such as smoked bacon, jalapeno, peppercorn, and pickled onion. Mersey Valley’s range of cheeses is said to be made in Tasmania, using 100% Australian milk. Products are usually sold in 80g, 180g and 235g blocks.
Our research found almost one in four (23%) survey respondents always buy the same brand of cheese, with half (52%) trying multiple brands of cheese. Nearly one in five (23%) also 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.
It seems Aussies fancy themselves as cheese connoisseurs, or maybe we just know what we like. After all, a whopping 55% of Aussies in our survey usually pick up cheese during their regular grocery shop and 36% believe it improves most dishes. Even a third of people (31%) admitted cheese is the one food they couldn’t live without.
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 more than 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 packaged block cheese (i.e. not from a deli) in the last three months – in this case, 1,234 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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