Canstar Blue’s latest seasoning & spices ratings compares Hoyts, Saxa, McCormick, MasterFoods, ALDI Stonemill, McKenzie’s, Keen’s, Woolworths, Clive of India, and Coles on range variety, taste, packaging design, value for money, and overall satisfaction.
See our Ratings Methodology.
Aussies rated Hoyts number one in Canstar Blue’s seasoning & spices ratings for the SECOND year in a row! It scored five-star reviews for variety, packaging design, value for money, and overall satisfaction.
If you’d rather say orega-no to a pinch of coriander because it leaves you with a soapy aftertaste, don’t worry. There’s still ‘thyme’ to ‘Spice Up Your Life’, as the Spice Girls would say, with plenty of other seasoning options to garnish your steak or stir into your marinade, aside from the stock standard salt and pepper.
In fact, one in five consumers we surveyed (23%) make sure to pick up some seasoning and spices during their regular grocery shop, with almost half having tried multiple brands (48%) and nearly a quarter of consumers (22%) sticking to the same brand each time.
To help you find the best seasonings and spices for your taste and budget, Canstar Blue surveyed more than 1,600 Australian consumers for their feedback on the seasoning and spices they bought and consumed from a supermarket or grocer in the last three months. Respondents scored brands on taste, variety, packaging design, value for money, and overall satisfaction. Brands that received the minimum survey sample size (30 responses) are included in our results.
Our latest ratings show ‘no one puts Hoyts in the corner’, with the brand rating best for seasoning and spices after receiving five-star reviews in four out of five categories – including overall satisfaction!
Here are the best brands of seasoning & spices, as rated by consumers in Canstar Blue’s annual review:
Hoyts topped our ratings with five stars for variety, packaging design, value for money, and overall satisfaction. Saxa shook things up after rating best in terms of taste. ALDI’s Stonemill similarly got full marks for value for money, as did MasterFoods when judged on variety. McCormick, MasterFoods, ALDI, and McKenzie’s also dished up five stars for packaging design.
From humble beginnings in 1960 that saw Hoyts being ‘born out of a suitcase’ after a young immigrant began supplying households and shops in Melbourne. In 1972 Romano Accardo was introduced to improve Hoyts Food, whose family consequently took over the company. Hoyts Food has since grown into one of Australia’s leading brands for pantry essentials. Hoyts has been spicing up Aussies’ mealtimes with a variety of herbs and spices, sauces, spreads, legumes, cooking oils and pickled vegetables.
Products from Hoyts usually check out for $1.15 to $3.20 for small 25g bags of herbs and spices. You’ll need to fork out more for jars which can cost between $2.70 and $5.09.
Our latest survey suggests chilli should be a pantry staple with nearly one in five (17%) usually adding it to most of their meals. Although salt and black peppercorns were still the most popular ingredients, followed by garlic powder, curry powder, and ground cinnamon. Several other types of seasonings and spices purchased include:
A handful of shoppers also said they opted for the healthier options, such as products with low salt or low sugar (13%).
When it comes to storage, it seems slightly more people prefer to keep their seasonings labelled jars in the pantry (31%) instead of a spice rack (29%). Expiry dates also appear to be more of a recommendation for some Aussies, with 29% admitting to using out-of-date herbs and spices.
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: Casanisa / 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 consumed seasoning or spices (including individual spices, mixed herbs & spices and Mexican seasoning) from a supermarket or grocer within the last three months – in this case, 1,623 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.
Check out the past winner of Canstar Blue’s seasoning and spices ratings:
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