Canstar Blue’s wholemeal bread review compares Wonder, Helga’s Continental Bakehouse, Abbott’s Village Bakery, Coles and Woolworths on freshness, taste, texture, range variety, packaging, value for money and overall satisfaction.
See our Ratings Methodology.
Aussie shoppers rated Wonder best in Canstar Blue’s latest wholemeal bread review, with five stars for taste, freshness, texture and overall satisfaction.
Whether you prefer multigrain, white or wholemeal, bread is a staple in most Australian households. With its perceived nutritional benefits, wholemeal bread is fast becoming a favourite among the health-conscious and parents. No wonder two in five people (41%) we surveyed said they eat bread daily! If you’re a bread buff, paying top dollar for the right blend of wholewheat flour and grain may be worth it to make a top-notch gourmet sandwich. So, which brands do Aussies ‘loaf’ most? And who serves up the right balance between taste and price?
To find out, Canstar Blue surveyed nearly 400 consumers for their feedback on the wholemeal bread they most recently bought and ate. Respondents rated brands on important factors like taste, freshness, texture, variety, packaging, value for money and overall satisfaction. Brands that met the minimum required sample size of 30 responses are included in our report.
Our latest wholemeal bread ratings found Wonder to be the bread Aussies ‘kneaded’, after it scored five-star reviews for taste, freshness, texture and overall satisfaction.
Here are the best brands for wholemeal bread in Australia, as rated by consumers in Canstar Blue’s latest review:
Wonder toasted the competition after ranking best with five stars for freshness, taste, texture and overall satisfaction. Helga’s Continental Bakehouse and Abbott’s Village Bakery similarly received full marks for packaging, with Abbott’s Village Bakery earning an additional five-star review for variety. Meanwhile, Coles was the only brand to score five stars for value for money.
For more than 20 years, Wonder has claimed to be ‘full of goodness’ and produced a variety of loaves packed with fibre and protein, and a 4.5-star health rating to back it up. It also promises its products are free from added sugars and artificial preservatives.
Wonder’s range has a couple of wholemeal options to choose from, including the Wholegrain Smooth White Sandwich Loaf and the Wholemeal Iron Sandwich Loaf. You can also find Wonder’s Wholemeal Iron Sandwich Mini Loaf for a bite-sized alternative. Just like the full-sized version, it’s said to contain iron to help reduce fatigue, vitamin B1 for energy, and protein to help grow and support muscle health.
Making bread at home is considered healthier because you get to pick and choose the quality and which ingredients go into the mix. The downside to this, however, is that you’ll pay more and there’s an art to bread-making, so it’s worth reading up on it before putting your baking shoes on.
On the flip side, buying bread at the supermarket is more convenient and cheaper. But most brands sold in supermarkets use preservatives to help the bread last longer, as well as processed ingredients like refined grains. You might also find packaged bread with unbleached flour, which is where the flour has been treated with chemical agents to make it age quicker. This can all make your toast less healthy, although it’s not the case with everything on the shelf!
Bread isn’t bad, but like everything in life − it should be enjoyed with moderation. Some bread contain ingredients like refined flour and refined grains that can make them less healthy compared to other foods. Certain store-bought bread replace wholewheat flour with refined flour, which is claimed to have less fibre and protein. So, it’s always worth reading the nutritional information on the back of the loaf when you’re shopping. Our research found that one in five consumers (20%) make sure to check nutritional details for purchasing.
Our ratings suggest Wonder is worth biting into, having impressed shoppers on taste, freshness, texture and overall satisfaction. Coles also seems to be an especially good pick for those hungry for a bargain, being the only brand that managed to receive full marks for value for money.
But what exactly makes a particular loaf of wholemeal bread rise to the top? Our survey shows taste and value for money are the biggest drivers of customer satisfaction, followed by freshness.
Our survey also found that 25% of respondents prefer thick sliced bread over the thinner varieties, while 26% said they believe options from premium brands taste better than cheaper alternatives. Whatever you choose, we hope you find our ratings review useful.
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 and eaten packaged wholemeal bread from a supermarket or grocer (i.e. not freshly baked from a bakery) within the last three months – in this case, 389 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 are the previous best-rated brands in Canstar Blue’s wholemeal bread ratings:
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