{"id":461207,"date":"2026-06-04T21:08:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T21:08:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/461207\/"},"modified":"2026-06-04T21:08:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T21:08:12","slug":"the-tasty-cheese-of-new-zealand-ranked-from-worst-to-best","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/461207\/","title":{"rendered":"The tasty cheese of New Zealand, ranked from worst to best"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the most straight-talking items in the dairy aisle, its name couldn\u2019t be clearer: tasty cheese. So what\u2019s the difference, do brands matter and, most importantly, which is best? The Spinoff tried six supermarket varieties to find out.<\/p>\n

The plastic-wrapped slabs sit behind eyewatering price tags, smug in their status as a New Zealand icon. Tasty cheese could be accused of lacking the sophistication of comt\u00e9, provolone or gouda and yes, it is incomparable to these international specialties. But that doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s not good or loved, whether starring in a toastie, cheese roll, scone or atop a pizza.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe consumer expectation of what sets a \u2018tasty\u2019 cheese apart is in the name\u2026 primarily a stronger taste profile,\u201d explains Alistair Carr, associate professor in dairy technology at Massey\u2019s School and Food Technology and Natural Sciences, who confirms tasty cheese is predominantly a New Zealand and Australian \u201cthing\u201d. Generally considered to be an aged cheddar, its\u00a0all-important tastiness is due to unique cheese cultures and a longer maturation period, which together create that distinctive flavour, but there are no standards or regulations governing the use of the terminology. \u201cSo the descriptor is in the eye of the manufacturer,\u201d notes Carr. \u201cA manufacturer can call anything tasty.\u201d<\/p>\n

They\u2019ve been doing that for over a century. The earliest mention in the Papers Past<\/a> historic New Zealand newspaper database comes from an 1881 ad<\/a> in the South Canterbury Times. By 1896 the Akaroa Mail was noting an \u201calways active demand for tasty cheese<\/a>\u201d, which proved accurate, as the variety was advertised regularly in New Zealand newspapers after that. By the 1980s Dairylea, Tararua and Anchor (none of which produce large blocks of tasty cheese in 2026) were battling for consumer attention with Mainland. An 800g block of theirs cost $5.15 in 1989<\/a>, equivalent to $12.71 today, adjusted for inflation. That\u2019s $1.59\/100g, markedly less than the $2.88\/100g for a comparable 700g now.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The soaring price of cheese has been shocking the nation in recent years. In 2020 Judith Collins guessed, incorrectly, that a 1kg block cost \u201c$4 or $5<\/a>\u201d (it was actually $17) and the item became representative of the cost of living crisis before it was replaced by butter<\/a>. In 2022 we unveiled The Spinoff Cheese Index<\/a>. Last year Stats NZ reported the price of cheese had risen 26%<\/a> since 2025.<\/p>\n

The reason it costs more than edam or colby is because of the time required for the ageing process. Carr explains: the 18-month maturation period means manufacturers have to cover higher costs (like interest on loans) during production, which also requires a temperature-controlled storage unit six times larger than what\u2019s used for cheese matured for three months.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While prices vary from brand to brand, ranging from $1.66\/100g to $3.13\/100g, each block looks pretty similar. So does the packaging, which is usually red. But do they taste the same? Carr says you can expect a difference in flavour and texture between brands, but at the end of the day choice is influenced by price as much as taste. A longer-aged cheese may appeal to \u201cmore discerning consumers\u201d who favour a certain \u201ccrunchiness\u201d, he says \u2013\u00a0this comes from\u00a0 small crystals of tyrosine, an amino acid, which join together. Cheeses aged for longer are also crumblier.<\/p>\n

But can you tell the difference? And, when cheese is so bloody expensive, will the cheapest option suffice? A selection of\u00a0 Spinoff staff dutifully tried all six varieties of tasty cheese available in New Zealand supermarkets, recording our observations, reckons, quibbles and (most importantly) scores during a blind tasting. Here they are, ranked from worst to best.<\/p>\n

\"DairyworksWill this make your life easier?
\n6) Dairyworks Tasty Natural<\/p>\n

2.8\/10<\/p>\n

$6.59 for 210g from New World ($3.13 per 100g)<\/p>\n

This is only available in a small block or pre-sliced, making it the most expensive per 100 grams of all the cheeses we tasted. While marketed as tasty cheese, it came across to many of us as colby in disguise. Sacha Laird declared it bland, while Liam R\u0101tana found it \u201cfar too mild\u201d and wasn\u2019t a fan of the \u201cgrainy\u201d mouthfeel. \u201cRubbery and gross,\u201d ruled Alice Neville. Te Aihe Butler was equally unimpressed by the texture, describing it as floury and stodgy. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t make a great first impression, nor last impression.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like melted cheese from a poorly sealed toastie, displeasure just kept coming. An \u201caggravatingly low effort\u201d, complained Hayden Donnell. \u201cYou can\u2019t label something tasty and not insert taste.\u201d Spinoffers were united in their criticism, with all recording poor flavour and texture. \u201cDull. Pointless. Get out,\u201d remarked Toby Manhire, who ranked this even lower than his old nemesis Alpine<\/a>. The three Dairyworks-owned cheeses we tried are the only ones of the six in our lineup to not explicitly claim to be made in New Zealand: all cryptically proclaim to be \u201cpacked in New Zealand from New Zealand and imported ingredients\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"AlpineRather tasty?
\n5) Alpine Tasty Cheese<\/p>\n

3.7\/10<\/p>\n

$16.49 for 800g from Woolworths ($2.06 per 100g)<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not a tasty cheese,\u201d ruled Toby. Several tasters detected a weird aftertaste, with Hayden judging this cheese, also made by Dairyworks, to be \u201cabsolutely bung\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"PamsFull flavour, they reckon.
\n4) Pams Tasty Cheddar Cheese<\/p>\n

4.1\/10<\/p>\n

$12.59 for 800g from Pak\u2019nSave ($1.57 per 100g)<\/p>\n

Tina Tiller generously described this as \u201cmellow\u201d, but Eli Rivera was less enthusiastic, finding it \u201ctoo gummy\u201d. Hayden declared it to be \u201cmid\u201d and \u201cperfectly average\u201d. Sacha reckoned it would be fine for a toastie, while Te Aihe described it\u00a0 as a \u201csafe, balanced choice\u201d, a cheese that \u201ctakes no risks\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"WoolworthsThis is meant to be sharp and mature (just like us).
\n3) Woolworths Tasty Cheese<\/p>\n

5.2\/10<\/p>\n

$13.29 for 800g from Woolworths ($1.66 per 100g)<\/p>\n

At least it\u2019s easy to slice. Toby described this contender as \u201cserviceable\u201d, Calum Henderson called it \u201calmost but not quite nice\u201d and Alice went for \u201cclaggy\u201d. Proving cheese tasting can have almost-thrilling twists, what started as \u201cyellow velvet\u201d for Te Aihe descended into a \u201csynthetic and quite bad\u201d aftertaste.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Others were more impressed. \u201cActually tasty,\u201d noted Hayden. Liam declared this to be \u201cwhat I want from a tasty cheese\u201d. It ticked the boxes for Eli, who found this to be \u201cyour standard tasty cheese\u201d. Having grown up in the US, she encountered tasty for the first time when she moved to New Zealand as an adult. \u201cI\u2019d never seen a cheese named with an adjective. It\u2019s cute!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"MainlandAged for 18 months, you say?
\n2) Mainland Tasty Cheese<\/p>\n

7\/10<\/p>\n

$19.90 for 1kg from Woolworths and New World ($1.99 per 100g)<\/p>\n

What many would consider the OG tasty, this cheese is marketed as \u201csharper than most\u201d and did have the punchiest flavour in our lineup. For some Spinoffers, this was too much. \u201cPossibly the \u2018funkiest\u2019 of the lot,\u201d mused Calum. \u201cNot necessarily in a good way?\u201d Sacha went further: \u201cYuck.\u201d<\/p>\n

Others loved the tasty taste of it \u2013 \u201cgood tang\u201d, noted Alice, who correctly picked it as Mainland in our blind tasting. Strong like a bracing southerly and the crumbliest of the lot, this is what happens when you take tasty cheese to the hilt. Rebecca Murphy appreciated the aforementioned \u201ccrunchy bits\u201d (thank you, crystals of tyrosine), and Jin Fellet enjoyed the \u201csharp and strong flavour\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"RollingThis promised more punch and it knocked out the competition.
\n1) Rolling Meadow Tasty Cheese<\/p>\n

7.3\/10<\/p>\n

$13.49 for 800g from Pak\u2019nSave ($1.69 per 100g)<\/p>\n

Reviews on Pak\u2019nSave\u2019s website warn this is \u201crubbery\u201d, advising \u201cdon\u2019t waste your money\u201d \u2013 but we disagreed. This tasted like \u201ca cheese that takes itself seriously\u201d, according to Calum, while Toby was inspired to deploy adjectives like \u201crobust\u201d and \u201cadmirable\u201d, and Te Aihe tossed around words like \u201cbold\u201d and \u201cheadstrong\u201d.<\/p>\n

However, cheese is personal and even our top-ranked contender (also produced by Dairyworks, which made our bottom two) didn\u2019t please everyone. Hayden was impressed with the \u201cclassic tasty profile\u201d but, once again, let down by texture, conceding \u201cmaybe I expect too much\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One of the most straight-talking items in the dairy aisle, its name couldn\u2019t be clearer: tasty cheese. So…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":461208,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[33055,7224,156,564,141,111,139,69,28228,97],"class_list":["post-461207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-cheese","tag-dairy","tag-entertainment","tag-food","tag-kai","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-ranking","tag-supermarket"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461207","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=461207"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461207\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/461208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=461207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=461207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=461207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}