Japanese mayonnaise brand Kewpie has swathes of devoted fans worldwide. When word got around the CHOICE office that we were testing mayonnaise, every conversation mentioned Kewpie.
While fans praise its rich, creamy texture and unmistakable umami flavour, there are many other contenders on the supermarket shelves. Aldi, for one, often produces grocery products that impress our experts in CHOICE taste tests. We tested three of their products in our recent mayonnaise taste test.
Is Kewpie the brand worth paying for, or should we be looking elsewhere for our mayo fix?
So now we have the data to answer the question: is Kewpie the brand worth paying for, or should we be looking elsewhere for our mayo fix? And can Aldi deliver an exceptional mayo for a fraction of the price?
Our expert judges taste-tested 29 mayonnaises “blind” (without knowing the products) from brands like Praise, Hellmann’s, S&W and Heinz, as well as supermarket own-brands, to see which should take pride of place in your fridge. See the full mayonnaise taste test results.
And it turns out, its mayonnaise is no exception. We tested three of Aldi’s mayonnaise offerings and two achieved recommended status from our experts.
Our expert judges rated 29 different mayonnaises for flavour, texture, appearance and aroma.
Aldi Colway Real Mayonnaise is one of the standouts in our test, taking out equal first place with a CHOICE Expert Rating of 80%.
Aldi Colway Authentic Mayonnaise is not too far behind with a score of 77%.
Aldi’s Colway Read product scored equal first overall.
These products stood out to our experts, outperforming popular mayos from Hellmann’s, Praise and S&W.
The judges described the Colway Real Mayonnaise as having a “pleasant taste”, observing that it was “creamy and homogeneous with balanced citrus acidity, subtle sweetness, mustard and whole-egg flavour”.
It held its shape well, also noting that the texture was “smooth and not too oily”.
For the Colway Authentic Mayonnaise, they also noted a smooth and pleasant homogeneous texture and described the flavour as being “balanced, with a good amount of mustard, vinegar and fat”.
These mayos were also among the cheapest in our test – the top scoring Aldi Colway Real Mayonnaise being the cheapest at only 61 cents per 100g.
Mayo misfire: Kewpie rated just 67% in our taste test.
Surely a brand as well-known and loved as Kewpie would receive similarly high scores?
Not so, unfortunately. The Kewpie Mayonnaise didn’t even make the podium, scoring just 67% – even less than most of Woolworths’ and Coles’ own-brand mayos.
It’s made with refined soybean oil, egg yolk, distilled vinegar and rice vinegar.
It also uses salt, water, spices and antioxidant 385 as well as the controversial additive 621 (monosodium glutamate, more commonly known as MSG).
The Kewpie Mayonnaise didn’t even make the podium, scoring even less than most of Woolworths’ and Coles’ own-brand mayos
Although beloved by many, it received less love from our judges.
They described it as “very salty with very unbalanced flavour”, with a taste that was “quite overpowering with mustard”, and an “eggy flavour and aftertaste”.
Text-only accessible version
Aldi vs Kewpie mayonnaise: Which comes out on top in our taste test
Aldi Colway Real Mayonnaise
CHOICE Expert Rating: 80% Price: $0.61 per 100g Fat: 79.6g per 100g Origin: Made in Australia with 99% Australian ingredients
Kewpie Mayonnaise
CHOICE Expert Rating: 67% Price: $1.90 per 100g Fat: 80.5g per 100g Origin: Made in Thailand
How do their nutritional profiles compare?
Aldi’s Colway Real Mayonnaise is lower in both total and saturated fat. The Aldi product contains 79.6g per 100g of fat and 5.9g per 100g of saturated fat, while Kewpie contains 80.5g and 12.4g respectively.
However, the Aldi product uses added sweetener in the form of sugar, containing 1.6g per 100g of sugar. In comparison, Kewpie contains only 0.6g per 100g of sugar.
What’s sugar doing in mayonnaise, you may ask? Well, interestingly, 28 of the 29 products we tested contain sugar – so it seems that while it’s not a traditional mayo ingredient, everyone’s doing it. Kewpie is the only product we tested that uses no added sweetener.
28 of the 29 products we tested contain sugar – Kewpie is the only product we tested that uses no added sweetener
When it comes to salt, we expect this to be a standard ingredient used in mayonnaise. However, our experts commented that many were far too salty. Kewpie is one of these, considered to have a high sodium content, containing 712mg per 100g.
If you want to avoid added sugars, not to mention additives and preservatives, making your own mayo is much easier than you’d think. CHOICE kitchen expert Fiona Mair shares her recipe for perfectly creamy, tangy mayo in the video below.
Egg is a key ingredient in traditional mayonnaise, but there are different schools of thought as to the best way to make mayo: whole egg, whole egg with extra yolk, or egg yolk only.
So unless you’re buying vegan mayonnaise, you’d expect to see egg in your mayo in one form or another.
Aldi’s Colway Real Mayonnaise contains 8% whole egg, while Kewpie’s Mayonnaise contains 9.5% egg yolk.
Unless you’re buying vegan mayonnaise, you’d expect to see egg in your mayo in one form or another
Two products we tested don’t specify the amount of egg in their product – the Aldi Colway Creamy Squeezy Mayonnaise and the Coles 97% Fat Free Mayonnaise.
According to the FSANZ Food Standards Code, a manufacturer is only required to declare the percentage of egg if the product is labelled as a “whole egg” mayonnaise, making egg a characterising ingredient. If it’s just labelled as a mayonnaise, detailing the exact percentage of egg is optional.
Which mayonnaise is Australian-owned or made in Australia?
Neither Aldi or Kewpie is Australian-owned, and while some criticise Aldi for not being Australian-owned, many of its products are made here, and often from Australian ingredients.
In the case of its Colway Real Mayonnaise, it’s made in Australia from at least 99% Australian ingredients. Kewpie is made in Thailand.
Sustainability
Low prices aren’t the only factor in deciding which product to buy – it’s also important to consider the environmental impact of your purchase (if you can afford to).
A product made in Australia from Australian ingredients is going to have fewer food miles than a product made overseas or from imported ingredients.
How we score
Our three experts tasted 29 mayonnaise products “blind”, meaning they didn’t know which was which.
Traditional/whole egg, light or reduced fat and vegan varieties were tested separately.
The CHOICE Expert Rating is based solely on our taste test score which is made up of:
50% flavour
20% texture
15% appearance
15% aroma
We recommend mayonnaise with a CHOICE Expert Rating of 75% or more. Just five products out of 29 were recommended by our experts.
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Rebecca Ciaramidaro is a Content producer in the Household team at CHOICE. Rebecca writes about a wide range of children's and household products, ranging from cots and strollers to ovens, BBQs, espresso machines and electric blankets. And also grocery items such as nappies, sanitary pads and laundry detergents.
Previously at CHOICE, Rebecca worked as a Test officer in the kitchen lab.
Rebecca has a Bachelor of Science (Nutrition and Food) from the University of Western Sydney. LinkedIn
Rebecca Ciaramidaro is a Content producer in the Household team at CHOICE. Rebecca writes about a wide range of children's and household products, ranging from cots and strollers to ovens, BBQs, espresso machines and electric blankets. And also grocery items such as nappies, sanitary pads and laundry detergents.
Previously at CHOICE, Rebecca worked as a Test officer in the kitchen lab.
Rebecca has a Bachelor of Science (Nutrition and Food) from the University of Western Sydney. LinkedIn
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