Canstar Blue’s fresh pasta review has seen San Remo, Latina Fresh and Coles compared on their taste, texture, variety, value for money and overall satisfaction.
Fresh pasta is ‘pastably’ one of the best dinnertime meals out there! Whether you prefer a spinach ravioli, farfalle or beef lasagne, it’s never too hard to find a recipe that will please the whole family. This is perhaps the reason half of our survey respondents (49%) dish up a pasta at least once a week. But, with so many different varieties of the fresh stuff available, how do you find a type of pasta and brand that will tick all your boxes?
For our inaugural fresh pasta review, we asked more than 300 Aussie consumers to rate different packaged pastas they’ve purchased from a supermarket or grocer and consumed in the last three months. Brands which met the minimum required survey sample size (of 30 responses) were included in the final results, compared on their taste, texture, variety, value for money and overall satisfaction.
So, what did we find? Our 2020 fresh pasta review featured three brands, but only one was rated numero uno – San Remo! The brand scored five-star ratings in all five research categories.
Here are the best fresh pasta brands in Australia, as rated by consumers in Canstar Blue’s latest review:
San Remo was rated best for fresh pasta, achieving five stars in a clean sweep across the board for taste, texture, variety, value for money and overall satisfaction. Notably, Coles also notched up a five-star win in the value for money category, but only received three stars for its taste and overall satisfaction. On the other hand, Latina Fresh fared relatively well in the taste stakes with four stars and earned top marks for texture.
San Remo is one of the leading pasta brands in Australia. Its fresh pasta products are made from 100% Australian durum wheat and contain free-range eggs, with no artificial flavours or colours. The brand offers a wide assortment of fresh pastas, including gnocchi, fettuccini and ravioli, as well as some vegan options. Here is a product selection from San Remo’s fresh pasta range:
Prices for San Remo fresh pasta start from $4.50 for 500g in most supermarkets.
Latina Fresh is said to have started in Melbourne in the 1980s from humble beginnings and quickly grew to become one of Australia’s most renowned producers of chilled pasta products, sauces and ready-to-eat meals. The brand’s mission is to share simple, fresh inspiration, starting with what’s on the table. Here are a few products in the Latina Fresh pasta range:
Prices for Latina Fresh pasta products start from $4 for 625g in most supermarkets.
Coles own brand is the supermarket’s line of ‘essentials’ for your home and kitchen. The private label offers a modest variety of fresh pasta products, including some organic options at affordable prices, compared to big-name brands. Here is a sample selection from the range:
Prices for Coles’ fresh pasta products start from $4 for 600g.
There are dozens of fresh pasta varieties to choose from, but ultimately your choice will depend on what you plan to dish up. Fresh pasta is made from a dough of eggs and flour which gets kneaded and rolled until it’s as thin or thick as desired. It then gets cut into strands of different widths to make different pastas like fettuccine or lasagne, or gets stuffed into tortellini and ravioli. So, choose your recipe and move forth.
In terms of pasta constituency, our survey found the majority of shoppers (76%) favour traditional wheat pasta over wholemeal or gluten-free alternatives. Texture is also important, which was the second biggest driver of satisfaction among consumers surveyed, while value for money seemed to be the number one consideration for most.
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) and consumed fresh pasta in the last three months– in this case, 309 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.