Peanut butter taste test

Our taste test

• Products

  We chose nine peanut butters available nationally in at least one of the major supermarket chains. Where a brand has multiple products we chose their standard 'flagship' or bestseller over their more niche products such as 'dark roast', 'American style', 'light' or 'organic'. For comparison purposes we selected 'smooth' style over 'crunchy' style as smooth has a larger share of the peanut butter market.  

• Tasting

  We set up a blind tasting in a shopping centre in Campbelltown, NSW, and invited members of the public to participate. Each product was assigned a number and its brand concealed. For each sample tasted, people decided if they disliked, liked or loved it. A total of 365 samples were tasted and voted on across the nine peanut butter products. A minimum of 33 taste tests were completed per product. 

• Scores

  The 'Taste score' is calculated as an average of all responses, where 'dislike' is scaled at 25, 'like' at 70 and 'love' at 100.

By Rachel Clemons