Canstar Blue’s cream cheese review has seen Philadelphia, Coles and Woolworths compared on their taste, packaging design, value for money and overall satisfaction.
See our Ratings Methodology.
Philadelphia was rated best in Canstar Blue’s inaugural cream cheese review, achieving five stars on taste, packaging design and overall satisfaction. It scored four stars on value for money.
Is there anything better than mac and cheese? Yes, mac and cheese with extra cream cheese of course! While it may not come in as many forms as mozzarella or parmesan, for example, cream cheese is more versatile in the sense that it can be added to both savoury and sweet plates. Try adding some to your banana bread next time and see for yourself. But with so many brands of cream cheese available at the supermarkets, how do you know which strikes the right balance between taste and value?
To find out, Canstar Blue surveyed more than 200 Aussie consumers for their feedback on any store-bought cream cheese that they’ve consumed in the last three months. Survey respondents rated brands on taste, packaging design, value for money and overall satisfaction. Those which met the minimum required survey sample size of 30 responses are featured in our results.
In our first ever cream cheese review, Philadelphia laid it on thick and earned five stars in most categories, including taste, packaging design and overall satisfaction. It achieved a respectable four stars for value for money.
Here are the best cream cheese brands in Australia, as rated by consumers in Canstar Blue’s inaugural review:
Philadelphia achieved an almost perfect five-star streak across the (cheese) board, scoring full marks for taste, packaging design and overall satisfaction, with four stars for value. Supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths managed to get an edge over our inaugural winner by achieving five stars in the bang for your buck category, but finished on four stars and three stars for overall satisfaction respectively.
With packaging that resembles something delivered from the dairy heavens, Philadelphia offers both spreadable cream cheese tubs and blocks. The spreadable varieties are available in four packs of 130g snack tubs and regular 230g and 250g tubs, while the block versions come in 250g packs. Lactose-free options are available, in addition to flavoured cream cheese, cream cheese icing, and cream cheese for cooking. Philadelphia cream cheese products usually cost $3.30 to $4.30 in most supermarkets.
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.
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 from a supermarket or grocer (i.e. not a deli) and consumed cream cheese within the last three months – in this case, 210 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.