Aldi beats Woolworths, Coles in product taste test

A surprising new survey has found the discount supermarket chain came out on top when it came to its in-house food brands.

Aldi can often be overlooked in favour of more established supermarkets like Woolworths and Coles but the discount chain has come out on top when it comes to taste.

At least that’s according to a new study from Choice, which compared different food products from the three supermarkets to see what scored best.

The consumer body found that when it came to house or ‘no-name’ labels Aldi came out on top, with six of its home brand products ranked best in its category.

By comparison both Coles and Woolies saw its home brand products score only three wins each.

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Aldi won four categories outright and tied with Woolies for two of them.

“Aldi is the clear winner when it comes to house brand products,” Choice food editor Rachel Clemons said.

“The supermarket won by a landslide, coming out with six wins across the 10 categories we analysed.

“Aldi scored first place when it came to butter, tea bags, tomato sauce, and pesto. It also tied for first place in the strawberry jam and premium ice cream categories.”

Coles had three wins for the best white bread, best shredded cheese and best instant coffee, while Woolies tied with Aldi for best premium ice cream and jam, while its muesli bars got the top slot.

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Coles won three product categories.

Ms Clemons said the days of supermarket home brands being considered of a lesser quality were over as they “often score well” in blind taste tests.

“House brand products have really improved in quality recently, and often score well in our testing,” she said.

“They’re a good option if you’re looking to save a bit of money on your grocery bill, as they’re usually a fraction of the price of more premium products.”

For the study, Choice looked at dozens of products sold across Woolies, Coles and Aldi in 10 categories to see which supermarket’s house brand had performed best.

The results are based on blind taste tests done by either in-house or industry experts, as well as those from Choice’s Voice Your Choice survey community.

HOW PRODUCTS RANKED

Best house brand premium ice cream

1st equal: Woolworths Vanilla Bean 81 per cent

1st equal: Aldi Monarc Indulge Vanilla Opulence 81 per cent

2nd: Coles Vanilla Bean 79 per cent

Best house brand butter

1st: Aldi Beautifully Butterfully Unsalted Butter 83 per cent

2nd: Coles Australian Butter 76 per cent

3rd: Woolworths Macro Certified Organic Salted Butter 72 per cent

Best house brand strawberry jam

1st equal: Aldi Grandessa Signature Jam 74 per cent

1st equal: Woolworths Essentials Jam 74 per cent

2nd: Coles Jam 62 per cent

Best house brand instant coffee

1st: Coles Fairtrade Organic Freeze Dried Coffee 74 per cent

2nd: Woolworths Freeze Dried Classic Coffee 69 per cent

3rd: Alcafe Aldi Classic Gold 67 per cent

Best house brand tea

1st: Aldi Diplomat Tea Cup Bags 73 per cent

2nd: Coles Cup Tea Bags 72 per cent

3rd: Woolworths Essentials Tea Bags 70 per cent

Best house brand white bread

1st: Coles Gluten Free 77 per cent

2nd: Aldi Baker’s Life 73 per cent

3rd: Woolworths Country White 72 per cent

Best house brand shredded cheese

1st: Coles Australian Mozzarella Cheese 80 per cent

2nd: Woolworths Australian Mozzarella 76 per cent

3rd: Aldi Westacre Tasty Light 66 per cent

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Woolies won one category outright and tied first with Aldi for two categories.

Best house brand tomato sauce

1st: Aldi Colway Tomato Sauce 70 per cent

2nd: Woolworths Tomato Sauce 67 per cent

3rd: Coles Tomato Sauce 64 per cent

Best house brand muesli bars

1st: Woolworths Chewy Choc Drizzle 72 per cent

2nd: Coles Choc Chip 71 per cent

3rd: Aldi Hillcrest Chewy Choc Squiggle 68 per cent

Best house brand pesto

1st: Aldi Remano 63 per cent

2nd: Coles Basil Pesto 55 per cent

3rd: Woolworths Basil Pesto 32 per cent