Woolworths confirms it makes Hillview cheese exclusively for Australia

Woolworths needs to “have a good, hard look at themselves,” dairy leader Joe Bradley says, after new details emerged in the Hillview cheese controversy.

A New Zealand cheese brand using green-and-gold packaging is made exclusively for the Australian market, Woolworths has confirmed.

Several Australian dairy leaders have called on Woolworths in recent weeks to repackage its discount Hillview cheese, which they say gives a false impression of being Australian made.

Woolworths operates nearly 200 supermarkets in New Zealand under the Countdown brand, but its Kiwi outlets do not stock Hillview.

Dairy Farmer Joe Bradley. Picture: Josh Woning

EastAUSmilk president Joe Bradley said Woolworths had intentionally packaged NZ cheese green and gold in order to leverage goodwill from Australian shoppers.

“It’s a disgrace. Woolworths needs to have a good, hard look at themselves,” he said.

“They’re not selling it in New Zealand with the same packaging, so clearly this is deceptive marketing at play. The Australian swimming team, the cricket team – and of course the Australian-made logo are all green and gold. This needs to be changed.”

The green and gold packaging of Woolworths Hillview cheese.

A Woolworths spokeswoman confirmed Hillview products were processed by the same major NZ processor that makes Countdown Own Brand cheese for its NZ customers.

“Our New Zealand sourced Hillview cheese is made from 100 per cent New Zealand dairy, with the country of origin labelled on the pack,” the spokeswoman said.

Woolworths currently sells Hillview 1kg blocks at $10.50, compared to $13.90 for its generic brand Australian tasty and $14.95 for a 1kg block of Cheer Cheese.

The Hillview range includes block, shredded and sandwich sliced-varieties, all with a green-and-gold design.