Strawberry jam, at its most basic, is just two ingredients – strawberries and sugar. But a good quality strawberry jam can elevate the humblest of scones. It’s a popular ingredient choice for Victoria sponge, jam roly poly and jam drop biscuits. And spread on a slice of hot, buttered toast? It’s the simplest of pleasures.
So which store-bought strawberry jam tastes best? Is sugar-free strawberry jam worth buying? And where does the jam on our supermarket shelves come from?
We review 16 supermarket strawberry jams from brands including Aldi, Bonne Maman, Coles, Cottee’s and Woolworths, and throw in a couple of home-made jams as well, to find out which products hit the sweet spot.
But although strawberry jam may be easy to make, strawberries can be expensive when they’re not in season. And, let’s face it, you might not have the time or inclination (or suitable jars at the ready) to prepare a batch when you need it.
So if store-bought jam is more your, well, jam, here are the products that received an overall score of 70% or more.
BEST STORE-BOUGHT: Beerenberg Australian Strawberry Jam
CHOICE Score: 75%
Price per 100g: $1.57
Good to know: This jam is 51% strawberries, and contains 99% Australian ingredients. It’s also one of the more expensive products in our review.
Our testers say:
“Glossy, natural colour. Beautiful, strawberry/lemon aroma. Sweet strawberry flavour with some acidity. Lots of seeds.”
Aldi Grandessa Signature Strawberry Premium Jam
CHOICE Score: 74%
Price per 100g: $0.54
Good to know: Aldi’s premium-tier jam is 50% strawberries, and is made in Belgium.
Our testers say:
“Rich, deep red colour. Light, pleasant strawberry aroma. Thick and chunky jam with evident fruit lumps. Can picture this on a great scone.”
Woolworths Essentials Strawberry Jam
CHOICE Score: 74%
Price per 100g: $0.28
Good to know: It’s the cheapest jam in the test (along with the budget-tier jams from Aldi and Coles), is 40% strawberries, and is made in Belgium.
Our testers say:
“Dark strawberry colour. Pleasant, subtle, sweet strawberry fragrance. Good balance of sweet and acid. Nice strawberry chunks, which are the stars of this jam.”
Bonne Maman Strawberry Conserve
CHOICE Score: 71%
Price per 100g: $1.41
Good to know: One of the more expensive products in the test, this jam is 50% strawberries and made in France.
Our testers say:
“Lovely bright, vibrant colour. Beautiful clean, fresh strawberry flavour. Not a subtle jam. Love the big strawberry chunks in this one.”
IXL Strawberry Jam
CHOICE Score: 71%
Price per 100g: $0.73
Good to know: It’s 40% strawberries, and is one of just a handful of products in the test that’s made in Australia.
For people who want, or need, to limit their sugar intake – and aren’t keen to give up jam on toast for brekkie – we included two reduced-sugar options in our test.
IXL Strawberry 50% Less Sugar contains 30% sugar, and Natvia 95% Less Sugar Strawberry Fruit Spread contains 5% sugar. The other jams in our test have an average of about 60% sugar.
So how did they taste?
They might be better for you nutritionally, but the reduction in sugar doesn’t seem to do the flavour any favours – these products scored among the lowest in our taste test, and earned overall scores of just 41%.
You might get more enjoyment from choosing a full-sugar jam, and just having it as an occasional treat.
Just five of the products in our test were made in Australia:
Aldi Grandessa Strawberry Conserve.
Beerenberg Australian Strawberry Jam
both IXL products.
Natvia’s Fruit Spread.
But just because they’re made in Australia, doesn’t mean they’re made from Australian ingredients. Only two contain a very high proportion of Australian ingredients: Aldi Grandessa at 90% and Beerenberg at 99%. The other three have less than 60% Australian ingredients.
So where else does your jam come from?
Aldi’s premium Grandessa Signature jam is made in Belgium, as are all three of Woolworths’s products.
Barker’s, Cottee’s and Rose’s are made in New Zealand.
Coles products are made in Poland.
Bonne Maman and St Dalfour are made in France.
Jam jargon explained
Read the labels and you’ll see that products in the ‘jam’ aisle are described variously as ‘jam’, ‘conserve’, ‘preserve’ and ‘spread’. So what’s the difference?
Jam is defined by the Macquarie Dictionary as: “a preserve of whole fruit, boiled with sugar and sometimes pectin, especially one in which the fruit is reduced to a thick pulpy consistency”. In Australia, jam is also defined by the food standards code – to be labelled a jam, a product must contain at least 40% fruit.
Conserve is essentially the same as jam. Its dictionary definition is: “a preserve of whole fruit, boiled with sugar and sometimes pectin, especially one in which the fruit retains its shape in whole or in part.”
Preserve is defined more simply as: “fruit etc that’s prepared by cooking with sugar.”
Spread is a catch-all label that’s used on ‘jam-style’ products. Four of the products we tested are labelled ‘spread’, including the only product in our test to contain less than 40% fruit (Coles Strawberry Spread, which is 30% strawberries) and the Natvia 95% Less Sugar product, which contains reconstituted fruit juices and sweetener in place of sugar.
We included two homemade strawberry jams in our taste test, both made by CHOICE home economist Fiona Mair.
One jam was made in the microwave to Fiona’s easy recipe. It blitzed the competition, receiving a taste-test score of 85%. It cost about $5.30 for a 400g jar (or $1.30 per 100g) to make, although it would cost less in summer when strawberries are cheaper.
The other jam was made in a Thermomix according to its official recipe. The resulting jam was very runny, and Fiona had to add pectin to help it set. It received a taste test score of 66%. All up it cost about $5.60 for a 400g jar (or $1.40 per 100g). Again, it would be cheaper to make when strawberries are in season.
Make your own, using the recipes below.
Microwave strawberry jam
Before starting, you’ll need to:
sterilise two 400mL capacity jars
put a couple of saucers in the freezer
Notes
Microwave power cooking for 800W (reduced time for 1000W)
If you have overripe strawberries, you may want to add 1½ tablespoons of pectin to help the jam set.
Ingredients
500g slightly under-ripe or just-ripe strawberries, hulled and sliced (room temperature)
1½ cups white sugar
Juice of ½ lemon
Method
Put strawberries in a 2–3L capacity heat-proof microwave-safe bowl or jug (e.g. glass Pyrex). Stir in sugar and lemon juice, mix well.
Microwave, uncovered, for four (three) minutes on HIGH (100%) power. Stir well, making sure all the sugar has dissolved.
Microwave, uncovered for a further 20 (15) minutes on MEDIUM (60-70%) power. Keep an eye on it, as you don’t want it to overflow.
Check if jam has reached setting point by putting a teaspoon of jam on a saucer from the freezer. If the jam wrinkles and stays separated when you push your finger through it, it’s ready for the jar. If it doesn’t, cook for another three minutes.
Fill the sterilised jars to the top with the hot jam. Screw lids on tightly and turn jars upside down for two minutes (this helps to seal and sterilise the lids well). Turn jars right side up to cool.
Once opened, store in the fridge.
Thermomix strawberry jam
Before starting, you’ll need to:
sterilise two 400mL capacity jars
put a couple of saucers in the freezer
Notes
If you have overripe strawberries, you may want to add 1½ tablespoons of pectin to help the jam set. You can buy jam setter at supermarkets.
Keep an eye on the liquid as it can boil over and out onto the lid. You may need to reduce the temperature, especially if using Varoma (a special setting for steam cooking).
Ingredients
500g slightly under-ripe or just-ripe room-temperature strawberries, hulled and quartered
1½ cups white sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Method
Place strawberries, sugar and lemon juice into the Thermomix jug.
Remove measuring cap from the lid and place the steamer basket over the lid.
Cook for 45 mins, temperature 110°C or Varoma, and speed 1.
Check if jam has reached setting point by putting a teaspoon of jam on a saucer from the freezer. If the jam wrinkles and stays separated when you push your finger through it, it’s ready for the jar. If it doesn’t, cook for another five minutes on the above settings.
Fill the sterilised jars to the top with the hot jam. Screw lids on tightly and turn jars upside down for two minutes (this helps to seal and sterilise the lids well). Turn jars right side up to cool.
In the years she’s worked at CHOICE as a test coordinator, Fiona Mair has cooked more than 8000 scones, 4000 chickens, 3000 sausages, 1000 meringues and 500 pizzas, to test more than 3000 appliances. She develops the recipes for testing kitchen appliances, helps conduct food taste tests, and has judged coffee in the testing of coffee machines. She can now add strawberry-jam tasting to her CV.
The strawberry jam lover
Jonathan Brown (JB) heads up CHOICE’s communications team as senior media adviser. He enjoys turning a broad knowledge of consumer affairs into simple and accessible media commentary, with personal stories and practical advice to help Australians. He’s also partial to scones with jam and cream.
The food writer
Rachel Clemons writes predominantly about food and nutrition – from reviewing almond milk and testing the quality of olive oil, to dispelling myths about the benefits of weight loss teas and translating confusing food labels. She has run countless taste tests for CHOICE, and normally home testers, members of the public or experts are the guinea pigs. But Rachel was happy to (sugar) sacrifice herself on this occasion.
How we test
Products
We tested 16 strawberry jam products that are available nationally in major supermarket chains. Price is based on jars 500g or closest bought in Sydney stores (not on special) in May/June 2020.
Tasting
Our experts tasted the strawberry jam samples ‘blind’ (without knowing the brands).
Scores
Experts independently judged all strawberry jam products, scoring each sample for appearance, aroma, flavour and texture. The CHOICE Score is made up of taste 90% (50% flavour, 20% texture, 20% appearance and 10% aroma) and nutrition 10% (based on the Health Star Rating, calculated from the details in the nutrition information panel and converted to a percentage). We recommend products with a CHOICE Score of 70% or more.
Rachel Clemons is an award-winning journalist who worked at CHOICE from 2004–2022.
During her time at CHOICE her core focus was on food and nutrition, from reviewing breakfast cereals and fast food to dispelling myths about the benefits of detox kits and gourmet salt or translating confusing food labels – with the occasional taste test thrown in for good measure.
Prior to CHOICE she lived overseas, working predominantly in hospitality when she wasn't travelling and eating her way through various cuisines. She holds a Master of Science in Nutrition from King's College London (where she also researched and wrote for CHOICE's UK sister organisation, Which?), and a Bachelor of Science, Health Sciences from the University of Adelaide.
In 2017 she won the Dietitians Association of Australia's Nutrition Journalism Award and she's currently on the Steering Committee as a Parent Member of Parents' Voice.
You can find her on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Rachel Clemons is an award-winning journalist who worked at CHOICE from 2004–2022.
During her time at CHOICE her core focus was on food and nutrition, from reviewing breakfast cereals and fast food to dispelling myths about the benefits of detox kits and gourmet salt or translating confusing food labels – with the occasional taste test thrown in for good measure.
Prior to CHOICE she lived overseas, working predominantly in hospitality when she wasn't travelling and eating her way through various cuisines. She holds a Master of Science in Nutrition from King's College London (where she also researched and wrote for CHOICE's UK sister organisation, Which?), and a Bachelor of Science, Health Sciences from the University of Adelaide.
In 2017 she won the Dietitians Association of Australia's Nutrition Journalism Award and she's currently on the Steering Committee as a Parent Member of Parents' Voice.
You can find her on Twitter and LinkedIn.
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