Like Vegemite, Weet-Bix is an Aussie breakfast staple. Across the nation, many of us wake up each morning to a bowl of bix, and we are fiercely specific about our preferred brand.
Most of us are either Team Weet-Bix or Team Vita Brits, with the rivalry between the two brands almost as intense as Coke vs Pepsi.
If your budget is feeling the squeeze, could it be worth switching from branded bix to cheaper alternatives?
But for the more open-minded, supermarkets also have their own bix offerings at less than half the price of the major brands. If your budget is feeling the squeeze, could it be worth switching from branded bix to a cheaper alternative?
We challenged CHOICE staff to a blind taste test of four wheat biscuit products to see if they could tell the difference between two supermarket house brands and two well-known branded products.
Our in-house food and nutrition expert also analysed 16 biscuit-style breakfast cereals and compared them in terms of nutrition, including sugar and sodium content. What we found may surprise you.
The blind taste test: Big brands vs supermarket own-brands
Just how much difference can there be between one wheat biscuit cereal and another? Surely they're pretty much the same, right?
To test that theory, we asked a panel of CHOICE staff to try four different biscuit brands (two of the big brands and two supermarket own-brands) to see if they could pick their preferred cereal from the lineup.
Five devoted Weet-Bix fans and two die-hard Vita Brits-eaters showed up to find out how attuned their taste buds are to their breakfast cereal of choice.
Could our panel pick their usual breakfast biscuit from the lineup?
CHOICE taste tester Katelyn contemplates which 'bix' is her usual go to.
Yes! Everyone nailed it:
- All five Weet-Bix eaters picked the Sanitarium product correctly.
- Both the Vita Brits eaters picked the Vita Brits sample as their regular cereal.
Not bad, huh? But what about the other two bix?
Aldi Goldenvale Wheat Biscuits
Surprisingly, Aldi's Goldenvale Wheat Biscuits gave many of our testers pause for thought. While they all picked the Weet-Bix sample as the OG Sanitarium product, three wondered whether the Aldi product might be their old faithful cereal.
"It's hard to choose between sample 1 [Aldi] vs sample 4 [Weet-Bix]," said one taste tester. "Could be my usual brand of Weet-Bix but I'm not sure," said another.
Looks like Aussie kids really are Weet-Bix kids. (But perhaps they could possibly become Aldi kids if their parents did a sneaky switch!)
Woolworths Wheat Biscuits
Unfortunately the Woolworths Wheat Biscuits weren't a favourite, with tasters saying they "lack texture" and "go mushy quickly", and many commenting that they tasted bland.
That could be because they're very low in sugar (more about that below), which could mean they're less flavoursome than sweeter bix. Despite added sugar not being great for our health, it seems we do have a taste for it!
Most CHOICE taste testers were able to pick their regular brand out of the mystery line-up.
Taste tester comments
Here's what our testers said about the four products:
- Aldi Goldenvale Wheat Biscuits: "Good but not quite the one"
- Vita Brits: "Way too hard"
- Woolworths Wheat Biscuits: "Nice but a bit blander than the ones I usually eat"
- Sanitarium Weet-Bix: "Very crunchy and delicious"
Note: We didn't include Coles Wheat Biscuits in the taste test because the product wasn't available at the time of testing.
How do you eat yours?
Most of us are very set in our ways about our breakfast. We often eat the same food, prepared in the same way every time. There's something comforting about predictability first thing in the morning.
To ensure our testers were tasting the four bix in our taste test on an even playing field, we asked them to prepare each sample in the same way they do each day.
One staff member eats her Weet-Bix dry, smothered in butter and Vegemite
The differences in prep styles were quite interesting. They ranged from broken vs unbroken, with and without sugar or honey, through to warm versions, including one that was deliberately turned to mush before being microwaved.
During the test, one CHOICE staff member popped her head in to comment that she eats her Weet-Bix dry, smothered in butter and Vegemite – a contender for the most Australian breakfast ever!
Which is the cheapest wheat biscuit breakfast cereal?
At 36 cents per 100g, Aldi's Goldenvale Wheat Biscuits are the cheapest bix on the block.
Of the three big supermarkets, Aldi often has the lowest prices. True to form, its Goldenvale Wheat Biscuits are the cheapest of the lot, costing just 36 cents per 100g.
However, they were neck and neck with Woolworths Wheat biscuits, which come in at 37 cents per 100g. Coles is the most expensive supermarket own-brand option at 41 cents per 100g.
Sanitarium Weet-Bix cost more than double all the supermarket own-brand products at 87 cents per 100g.
If you're looking to reduce your grocery spend, the Aldi bix could be a good option as they tick all the boxes for nutrition, price and taste. If you're not an Aldi shopper, Woolworths is your best (supermarket-branded) bet as it delivers on both price and nutrition.
Here's how the branded products compare with supermarket products on price:
Are wheat biscuit breakfast cereals healthy?
We compared biscuit-style cereals using the George Institute's FoodSwitch app to calculate estimated added sugar per serve, Health Star Rating (HSR), and the highest wholegrain content.
Almost all 'bix' cereals had an HSR of more than 4.5, so they're generally a healthy option, and most are low in sugar, thought some have surprisingly high levels of salt.
No-added-sugar options
When we surveyed parents about their cereal buying habits, 44% said they look at the sugar content when choosing, or opt for low-sugar cereals.
If you want to opt for the products no added sugar, these are the way to go:
Woolworths Wheat Biscuits
Sweet on price but not on flavour: Woolworths' Wheat Biscuits have zero added sugar.
- Price: 37c per 100g
- Estimated added sugar: 0g per 100g
Uncle Tobys Vita Brits
- Price: 88c per 100g
- Estimated added sugar: 0g per 100g
Uncle Tobys Shredded Wheat
- Price: $2.04 per 100g
- Estimated added sugar: 0g per 100g
While Vita Brits may have no added sugar, it actually has the highest sodium content of all the biscuit cereals we analysed, so take that into account when adding it to your shopping basket.
If you're trying to reduce your sugar intake, make sure you avoid Sanitarium's Weet-Bix Bites Wild Berry, which packs a huge 21.8g of sugar per 100g.
Low-salt options
Salt in your cereal? Yes, really.
"Watch out for the sodium in these biscuit-type cereals," says CHOICE nutrition expert Shadia Djakovic. "You might be shocked by the amount found in some products."
The Heart Foundation recommends that you choose foods with a sodium content of 120mg per 100g, but the average sodium content for this category was more than 237mg per 100g – almost twice as much!
The worst offender was Uncle Toby's Vita Brits, with a sodium content of almost 400mg per 100g.
Only two products out of the 16 we examined meet the Heart Foundation's recommendation for low sodium content:
Uncle Toby's Shredded Wheat has no added sugar and just 21mg of sodium per 100g.
Sanitarium Weet-Bix Little Kids Essentials
- Price: $0.75 per 100g
- Sodium: 12mg per 100g
Uncle Toby's Shredded Wheat
- Price: $2.04 per 100g
- Sodium: 21mg per 100g
"Uncle Toby's Shredded Wheat is 100% wholegrain: just shredded wheat with only 21mg of sodium per 100g (and naturally occurring sodium at that), and no added sugar," says Shadia.
Stock images: Getty, unless otherwise stated.
