Canstar Blue’s cream cheese review has seen Philadelphia, Woolworths and Coles compared on their taste, range variety, packaging design, value for money and overall satisfaction.
See our Ratings Methodology.
Philadelphia milks its second win in Canstar Blue’s 2021 cream cheese review, rating best for taste, range variety, packaging design and overall satisfaction.
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, range variety, packaging design, value for money and overall satisfaction. Brands that received at least 30 responses are featured in this year’s report.
Philadelphia topped our cream cheese ratings for the second year in a row, rating best for taste, variety, packaging design and overall satisfaction.
Here are the best cream cheese brands in Australia, as rated by consumers in Canstar Blue’s 2021 review:
Philadelphia achieved an almost perfect spread across the (cheese) board, receiving five-star reviews for taste, variety, packaging and overall satisfaction. Woolworths followed closely behind on a respectable four stars, while Coles rounded up the results on three stars overall.
Although when it came to giving consumers bang for their buck, Woolworths and Coles got the edge over the reigning champion. The two supermarket labels scooped up full marks for value for money.
Boasting a logo that resembles something delivered from the dairy heavens, Philadelphia offers both spreadable cream cheese tubs and blocks. The spreadable varieties are available in regular 130g and 250g tubs, plus smaller four-pack snack tubs (34g each), 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, 220 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 is the previous winner for cream cheese:
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