One of the most straight-talking items in the dairy aisle, its name couldn’t be clearer: tasty cheese. So what’s the difference, do brands matter and, most importantly, which is best? The Spinoff tried six supermarket varieties to find out.

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 comté, provolone or gouda and yes, it is incomparable to these international specialties. But that doesn’t mean it’s not good or loved, whether starring in a toastie, cheese roll, scone or atop a pizza.

“The consumer expectation of what sets a ‘tasty’ cheese apart is in the name… primarily a stronger taste profile,” explains Alistair Carr, associate professor in dairy technology at Massey’s School and Food Technology and Natural Sciences, who confirms tasty cheese is predominantly a New Zealand and Australian “thing”. Generally considered to be an aged cheddar, its all-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. “So the descriptor is in the eye of the manufacturer,” notes Carr. “A manufacturer can call anything tasty.”

They’ve been doing that for over a century. The earliest mention in the Papers Past historic New Zealand newspaper database comes from an 1881 ad in the South Canterbury Times. By 1896 the Akaroa Mail was noting an “always active demand for tasty cheese”, 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, equivalent to $12.71 today, adjusted for inflation. That’s $1.59/100g, markedly less than the $2.88/100g for a comparable 700g now. 

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

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’s used for cheese matured for three months. 

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 “more discerning consumers” who favour a certain “crunchiness”, he says – this comes from  small crystals of tyrosine, an amino acid, which join together. Cheeses aged for longer are also crumblier.

But can you tell the difference? And, when cheese is so bloody expensive, will the cheapest option suffice? A selection of  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.

6) Dairyworks Tasty Natural

2.8/10

$6.59 for 210g from New World ($3.13 per 100g)

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 Rātana found it “far too mild” and wasn’t a fan of the “grainy” mouthfeel. “Rubbery and gross,” ruled Alice Neville. Te Aihe Butler was equally unimpressed by the texture, describing it as floury and stodgy. “It doesn’t make a great first impression, nor last impression.”

Like melted cheese from a poorly sealed toastie, displeasure just kept coming. An “aggravatingly low effort”, complained Hayden Donnell. “You can’t label something tasty and not insert taste.” Spinoffers were united in their criticism, with all recording poor flavour and texture. “Dull. Pointless. Get out,” remarked Toby Manhire, who ranked this even lower than his old nemesis Alpine. 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 “packed in New Zealand from New Zealand and imported ingredients”.

5) Alpine Tasty Cheese

3.7/10

$16.49 for 800g from Woolworths ($2.06 per 100g)

“This is not a tasty cheese,” ruled Toby. Several tasters detected a weird aftertaste, with Hayden judging this cheese, also made by Dairyworks, to be “absolutely bung”. 

4) Pams Tasty Cheddar Cheese

4.1/10

$12.59 for 800g from Pak’nSave ($1.57 per 100g)

Tina Tiller generously described this as “mellow”, but Eli Rivera was less enthusiastic, finding it “too gummy”. Hayden declared it to be “mid” and “perfectly average”. Sacha reckoned it would be fine for a toastie, while Te Aihe described it  as a “safe, balanced choice”, a cheese that “takes no risks”.

3) Woolworths Tasty Cheese

5.2/10

$13.29 for 800g from Woolworths ($1.66 per 100g)

At least it’s easy to slice. Toby described this contender as “serviceable”, Calum Henderson called it “almost but not quite nice” and Alice went for “claggy”. Proving cheese tasting can have almost-thrilling twists, what started as “yellow velvet” for Te Aihe descended into a “synthetic and quite bad” aftertaste. 

Others were more impressed. “Actually tasty,” noted Hayden. Liam declared this to be “what I want from a tasty cheese”. It ticked the boxes for Eli, who found this to be “your standard tasty cheese”. Having grown up in the US, she encountered tasty for the first time when she moved to New Zealand as an adult. “I’d never seen a cheese named with an adjective. It’s cute!”

2) Mainland Tasty Cheese

7/10

$19.90 for 1kg from Woolworths and New World ($1.99 per 100g)

What many would consider the OG tasty, this cheese is marketed as “sharper than most” and did have the punchiest flavour in our lineup. For some Spinoffers, this was too much. “Possibly the ‘funkiest’ of the lot,” mused Calum. “Not necessarily in a good way?” Sacha went further: “Yuck.”

Others loved the tasty taste of it – “good tang”, 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 “crunchy bits” (thank you, crystals of tyrosine), and Jin Fellet enjoyed the “sharp and strong flavour”.

1) Rolling Meadow Tasty Cheese

7.3/10

$13.49 for 800g from Pak’nSave ($1.69 per 100g)

Reviews on Pak’nSave’s website warn this is “rubbery”, advising “don’t waste your money” – but we disagreed. This tasted like “a cheese that takes itself seriously”, according to Calum, while Toby was inspired to deploy adjectives like “robust” and “admirable”, and Te Aihe tossed around words like “bold” and “headstrong”.

However, cheese is personal and even our top-ranked contender (also produced by Dairyworks, which made our bottom two) didn’t please everyone. Hayden was impressed with the “classic tasty profile” but, once again, let down by texture, conceding “maybe I expect too much”.