Ice Cream Tubs

Golden North takes two scoops in ice cream tub ratings

On a scorching summer’s day, there’s nothing like a big bowl of ice cream to cool you down! And with non-dairy, gluten-free and nut-free options now widely available, almost everyone can indulge with this special treat. But with so many options to choose from, which ice cream brand serves up the best blend of taste and value? The supermarket freezer aisle is packed full of different brands, so which are worth a try?

Each year, Canstar Blue reveals the answers to these questions. To find out in 2019, we surveyed more than 1,300 consumers who have bought and eaten from a tub of ice cream in the last three months. Ten brands made it into this year’s rating, but it was Golden North who scooped top spot for the second year in a row.

The 10 brands to be featured in our 2019 ice cream tubs review are rated in the following order for overall customer satisfaction:

• 1^st Golden North
• 2^nd ALDI Monarc Indulge
• 3^rd Peters
• 4^th Bulla
• 5^th Connoisseur
• 6^th Ben & Jerry’s
• 7^th Woolworths
• 8^th Coles
• 9^th Streets Blue Ribbon
• 10^th Sara Lee

ALDI Monarc Indulge, Peters, Bulla, Connoisseur, Ben & Jerry’s and Woolworths got four stars for overall satisfaction, while Coles, Blue Ribbon and Sara Lee were left on just three stars apiece. There were some other noteworthy results, including ALDI being the only brand to get five stars on value for money, with Ben & Jerry’s picking up the sole five-star rating for packaging. Ben & Jerry’s additionally topped variety alongside Golden North.

According to our survey, 14% of respondents eat ice cream every day during summer, with 29% stating they eat ice cream straight out of the tub – it’s the only way, some would say! One in four (25%) enjoy the treat on special occasions, while 19% feel guilty about eating it. Just 4% said they prefer to eat single serve ice creams compared to a tub – the more the merrier perhaps.

Australia’s favourite ice cream flavour

When asked what their favourite flavour of ice cream is, vanilla was the most popular choice of survey respondents:

• Vanilla: 32%
• Chocolate: 15%
• Cookies & Cream: 12%
• Caramel/Salted Caramel: 9%
• Neapolitan: 9%
• Mint: 6%
• Berry (e.g. strawberry, raspberry): 5%
• Coffee: 5%
• Fruit flavours (e.g. mango, banana): 3%
• Other: 6%

So, what is ice cream anyway?

Today is the day you find out you’ve been living a lie! The ice cream you have in your freezer might not actually be ‘ice cream’ at all! According to Food Standards Australia New Zealand, ice cream is officially defined as “a sweet frozen food that is made from cream or milk products or both, and other foods, and is generally aerated”. A food that is sold as ‘ice cream’ must, by law:

• be ice cream; and
• contain no less than:
  • 100 g/kg of milk fat; and
  • 168 g/L of food solids.

This means many of the ‘ice cream’ tubs you buy from the supermarket are in fact confectionary due to the lack of dairy cream they contain. Generally speaking, we refer to all products in the freezer aisles as ice cream for the sake of our ratings. You know what we mean…

About the winner – Golden North

Golden North is proudly South-Australian made and owned, producing ice cream for almost 100 years. Its products are boasted to be 100% Palm Oil Free, with most of its range also gluten free. The brand’s core ice cream range features vanilla, diet plus vanilla, and cookies & cream. Its ‘Good ‘N Creamy’ line is stated to have a low glycaemic index, and is available in vanilla, wild berries and lemoncello flavours. It also offers a ‘Simply Indulge’ range, which features flavours such as Boysenberry, Café Cino, Chocolate, Honey, Rum & Raisin, Spearmint Sundae, Vanilla and Vanilla Sundae. Tub sizes come in various options including 1L, 1.2L, 2L and 5L, depending on which variety of ice cream you’re after.

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