01.Introduction
The rise in supermarket-own brands has been phenomenal in Australia, with Coles and Woolworths leading the charge, closely followed by the popular discount chain, Aldi. Private labels now account for almost a quarter of all grocery sales, and there are few supermarket categories that don’t offer a prominently displayed home brand – often keenly priced to fly off the shelves. But how do they stack up against market-leading brands? To find out, CHOICE purchased a total of 163 products, across 30 different popular food items, and put them to the test.
How we tested
We used the nutrition information on the label to see how they measure up against each other for sugar, fat and salt. Then we put 10 of the food categories to the taste test, recruiting 30 CHOICE members, along with some staff members, to be part of a taste test panel.
For each food item, we purchased:
• the budget tier consisting of Woolworths Home Brand (WHB) and Coles Smart Buy (CSB);
• the premium tier of Woolworths Select and Coles (formerly You’ll Love Coles);
• the Aldi brand; and
• the market-leading brand.