Canstar Blue’s white bread review has seen Helga’s Continental Bakehouse, Tip Top, Woolworths, Wonder White and Coles compared on taste, freshness, texture, range variety, value for money and overall satisfaction.
See our Ratings Methodology.
Helga’s Continental Bakehouse & Tip Top are joint winners in Canstar Blue’s 2021 white bread review, each rated best for overall satisfaction. Helga’s Continental Bakehouse also achieved five stars for variety as well as for taste and texture, alongside Tip Top which also got full marks for freshness.
Aussies don’t loaf around with their bread. Our latest survey revealed that almost one in five (19%) shoppers buy multiple loaves on their weekly grocery shop. While wholemeal or multigrain are typically considered healthier options, it’s hard to pass up a nice slice of white bread. It can be used for so many meals, whether it’s a simple morning toast with smashed avocado, or a delicious bread and butter pudding. So, out of all the options out there, which white bread do Aussies rate the bread to their butter?
To find out, Canstar Blue surveyed more than 800 Australian consumers for their feedback on the white bread they bought and ate within the last three months. Brands were rated on important factors like taste, freshness, texture and so on. Those that received the minimum sample size (30 responses) are featured in our report.
Our latest ratings saw Helga’s Continental Bakehouse & Tip Top rated best for white bread, both earning five stars for taste, texture and overall satisfaction. Tip Top also placed number one for freshness, while Helga’s Continental Bakehouse led for variety. Woolworths was additionally ranked best for bang for your buck.
Here are the best white bread brands in Australia, as rated by consumers in Canstar Blue’s latest review:
Helga’s Continental Bakehouse and Tip Top ranked number one in our 2021 white bread ratings, each receiving five stars for overall satisfaction. Woolworths and Wonder White followed closely behind on four stars, while Coles rounded up the scores on three stars overall.
Helga’s Continental Bakehouse produces premium European-style bread with contemporary Australian tastes in mind. Baking bread since back in 1990, the company now supplies most major supermarkets in Australia with a range of traditional bread loaves, wraps and different types of specialty bread, including gluten-free and low-carb options. Prices for Helga’s Continental Bakehouse products start from $2.90 for the Traditional White Mini Loaf.
Donning the slogan ‘Good on ya mum’, Tip Top has been ‘the one’ brand filling Aussie lunchboxes for many years. It offers a variety of products such as sliced bread, gourmet bread, muffins and crumpets. Its ranges include The One, Sunblest, 9 Grain, Café, Texas Toast, Sandwich Thins, Burger Thins, English Muffins and Buns & Rolls. A bread loaf from Tip Top costs around $3.
Here are a few other brands of white bread available at the supermarket you might want to spend your dough on:
White bread is generally seen as less healthy than wholemeal bread, for example, because it’s said to be lower in fibre and protein, and higher in refined carbohydrates. This can create a surplus of sugar in the bloodstream, that if not utilised as ‘fuel’, can be stored as fat in the body. With white bread, it’s best to stick to the golden rule – everything in moderation.
Homemade bread can be healthier because it usually contains fewer ingredients compared to store-bought bread. This mostly means removing the preservatives and other ingredients designed to extend the shelf life of supermarket bread. Plus, you can customise the bread recipe to have less sugar and salt or make substitutions to suit your dietary requirements. However, buying bread from the supermarket is often more convenient and cheaper.
Some prefer to buy freshly baked bread from the local bakery or in-house bakery at the supermarket because of the apparent quality of ingredients. Buying a loaf made with whole grains is great because each kernel is kept intact throughout the whole bread-making process, ensuring you still get the fibre, vitamins, minerals (i.e. magnesium) and healthy fats that you naturally get from whole grains.
Packaged bread tends to contain refined grains that don’t provide the same level of nutrients as whole grains, due to the way the grains are processed; which removes a large chunk of B vitamins, vitamin E and fibre. Packaged bread may also feature bleached flour rather than unbleached flour. Unlike unbleached flour, which is said to naturally bleach as it ages, bleached flour has had chemical agents added to make the aging process faster.
This will ultimately depend on taste and personal preference. Our ratings report reveals which brands were rated best for taste, texture and freshness which is a good starting point because no one likes stale bread.
You may have to try a few different options of white bread to find one that satisfies your tastebuds. With that said, our survey found that almost a quarter (24%) of Aussies (who buy white bread) think that premium brands taste better than cheaper ones.
It’s also important to take into account nutritional value. White bread is generally considered the least healthy member of the bread family as it contains the highest amount of refined grains and sugars. Look for white bread that has the highest amount of protein, calcium and iron instead.
In a nutshell, you’ll need to shop around to find a brand of white bread that tastes good and offers value for money.
This report was written by Canstar Blue’s Home & Lifestyle Content Lead, Megan Birot. She’s an expert on household appliances, health & beauty products, as well as all things grocery and shopping. When she’s not writing up our research-based ratings reports, Megan spends her time helping consumers make better purchase decisions, whether it’s at the supermarket, other retailers, or online, highlighting the best deals and flagging anything you need to be aware of.
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Picture credits: PosiNote/Shutterstock.com, Tcelischev Vladimir/Shutterstock.com.
Canstar Blue surveyed over 3,000 Australians 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 eaten white bread in the last three months – in this case, 838 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 satisfactory rating 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.
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