As any Aussie will tell you, there's nothing like a bowl of Rosella’s tomato soup, handful of Jaffas or bar of Cherry Ripe (ideally accompanied by a cup of Bushells tea) to make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Yet, while these brands are iconic in Australia, lining both stomachs and kitchen cupboards for decades, many aren’t available outside the country. Read on as we reveal the stories behind the oldest and most-loved Aussie food brands.
Click or scroll through our gallery to discover the most nostalgic food brands in Australia, from youngest to oldest – how many have you tried, or even heard of?
Australia has numerous nostalgic frozen treats that sing of summers past, but the Paddle Pop tops the lot and has been refreshing the nation since 1953. This revolutionary paddle-shaped ice cream on a stick was the brainchild of Ron Street, the nephew of Streets founder Edwin (Ted) Street. Ted started up the Streets brand in the 1920s in his New South Wales home, where he created the Penny Pink, a strawberry ice cream in a cone that he sold for a penny.
The first Paddle Pop flavour was chocolate, followed by vanilla and caramel before the lolly range evolved into a host of flavours and colours including strawberry, banana and rainbow. One of Streets’ long-running bestsellers, its success was helped by its mascot, Max the Paddle Pop Lion, introduced in the 1960s with the snappy catchphrase: "I’m the lion who loves Paddle Pops!" The Streets brand, now owned by Unilever, also spawned other perennial frozen favourites like the Golden Gaytime and Buffalo Bill.
This Aussie-owned pastry brand has been satisfying the pie-loving nation since 1954, when the Macgregor family moved to Perth and started selling pies and cakes at Bakewell Pies (pictured) in the city’s Northbridge suburb. The Mrs Mac’s name was established later, in the 1980s, when the pastry treats winged their way out of Western Australia to be enjoyed elsewhere. The range is now sold in supermarkets all over the country and in New Zealand.
Still owned by the Macgregor family and made in Perth, Mrs Mac’s most legendary products are the Famous Beef Pie – a crisp shortcrust pastry shell made with flour from Australian-grown wheat that’s filled with minced Australian beef – and the Giant Sausage Roll. Bake at home and on-the-go ranges are now part of the Mrs Mac's family, along with gluten-free and vegan bakes and specials including the Loaded Chicken Parmi Pie, a riff on the classic counter lunch, chicken parmigiana.
These cheery orange balls have been delighting sweet-toothed Aussies since 1931, when they were created by James Stedman-Henderson's Sweets Ltd in Sydney under its Sweetacres brand. First sold from glass jars on the lolly counters of the country's once-ubiquitous milk bars, a bag of Jaffas soon became synonymous with a movie matinee treat.
Whether you sink your teeth straight in, or suck the crisp outer shell, when eating a Jaffa you'll be seduced by a punchy orange flavour that gives way to a solid chocolate centre. There was an outcry in 2023, when Woolworth's announced it would stop stocking the retro local treat due to a decline in sales. However, they're still widely available elsewhere for those that have a soft spot for the citrus chocolate balls.
This family favourite represents the taste of childhood for many and goes all the way back to 1927, when dairy farmer Spencer Cottee diversified by growing passion fruits on his farm in Lismore, New South Wales, pressing them to create refreshing fruit drinks. One of his first products was a passion fruit soda, which would become the much-loved Passiona drink. He also created an array of fruity cordials, preserves and jellies under the name Cottee’s, eventually opening a factory in Leichhardt, Sydney in the 1930s.
Long the nation’s cordial brand of choice, in 1984 Cottee’s became part of Cadbury Schweppes, which was later swallowed by Asahi Beverages. Available in a range of flavours and shades, its bestselling cordial is the lurid Lime Coola. One of the reasons for the brand’s success is its memorable advertising – a now iconic ‘My Dad picks the fruit’ TV ad in the 1980s resonated with audiences and cemented Cottee’s status as a wholesome family essential.
A childhood favourite around the nation, Aeroplane Jelly has a brilliant backstory. It was the invention of a man named Bert Appleroth, who cooked it up in his bath – literally. The Sydney tram driver made jelly crystals in the bath of his parents' house in Paddington in the early 1900s, and sold them to customers along his tram route. In 1926, he began marketing the crystals under the name De-Luxe in partnership with a man called Albert Francis Lenertz, who ran a grocery wholesale business. The product was rebranded Aeroplane Jelly in 1927, in a bid to align with the era's fascination with aviation.
The jelly brand went onto become one of the most successful family-operated food manufacturers and recognisable brands in the country. It also has one of the most distinctive and longest running advertising jingles; the Aeroplane Jelly Jingle was written by Albert in 1930 and inspired the ‘whistling boy’ on the packaging. As well as the original Berry Blue flavour, the range now includes low-calorie and ready-to-eat jellies. In 2017, it celebrated 90 years in the business with the launch of Glitter Jelly and commemorative packs.
This cherished treat, featuring a mix of cherries and coconut covered with dark chocolate, is one of Australia’s most historic choccie bars. The fruity, fudgy Cherry Ripe was invented in 1924 by Melbourne-based MacRobertson, at the time the largest confectionery manufacturer in the Southern Hemisphere. The chocolatier also introduced another of Australia's most enduring chocolate treats to the nation: Freddo Frogs.
The MacRobertson empire was taken over by Cadbury Australia in 1967, but the distinctive Cherry Ripe wrapper carried the MacRobertson brand name all the way until 2002. The range now includes packets of Cherry Ripe Minis, a luxurious Cherry Ripe Double Dipped bar and Cherry Ripe Ice Cream.
As quintessentially Australian as the koala and the gum tree, Vegemite is the most iconic of all the country’s food brands, created way back in 1923. The product came about when food technologist Cyril Callister was tasked by Fred Walker & Co to invent an Aussie version of the popular British-made Marmite. A public competition was held to find a name for the product, and Vegemite was chosen by Fred’s daughter.
It took a while for the spread to gain traction with the Marmite-loving locals, though. Vegemite was briefly renamed Parwill, as part of a marketing campaign to boost sales, but the original name soon returned and the brand went on to become the nation’s number one savoury spread. Smart advertising, like the iconic Happy Little Vegemites tune and cheeky topical placements, firmly cemented its position in the country’s popular culture pantheon. As the tagline puts it, Vegemite 'Tastes Like Australia'.
A lolly beloved by Aussies of a certain age, Minties date back to 1922, when the chewy mint-flavoured treats were invented by a man with a serious confectionery pedigree: James Noble Stedman, whose father founded the James Stedman-Henderson's Sweets Ltd company and was hailed as the country’s first confectioner. James took over the business, renaming it Sweetacres. As well as Minties, Sweetacres also produced a range of old-school faves, including Fantales and Jaffas.
Minties became embedded in Aussie popular culture, helped along by canny and catchy advertising. Its most famous strapline, 'It's moments like these you need Minties', first appeared in 1926, and is the longest running advertising slogan in Australian history. The Minties wrapper challenge – ripping off the distinctive white, green and red wax paper packaging in one long strip without tearing it – has kept kids entertained on car journeys for decades. Still freshening palates (and sticking jaws together) over a century on, the peppermint mint–flavoured lolly remains a firm favourite.
The IXL name dates to 1903, but it all began in 1862 with Hobart-born Sir Henry Jones, who started working in a conserve factory aged just 12 or 13. Henry made his way up the ranks, taking over the business in 1898 and renaming it H Jones & Company, moving operations to Melbourne to capture the more lucrative mainland market. He opened his conserve factory (the now legendary Jam Factory) in an old brewery on Melbourne's Chapel Street, and was the city’s largest employer for a time.
The name IXL was introduced by Henry in 1903, in reference to his motto: 'I excel, in all of the products I make.' The cherished conserve brand has undergone a number of changes in ownership over the years, but nowadays the company is Australian-owned once more and its product range – which includes jams, preserves and marmalades – can be found in households around the country. Henry's two factories also live on; the old H Jones & Company factory in Hobart has been transformed into the chichi The Henry Jones Hotel, while Melbourne’s Jam Factory is a local landmark and retail hub in the city’s hip South Yarra suburb.
Bega Cheese has been Australian-owned and operated since the very beginning. Back in 1899, a group of dairy farmers in the Bega Valley, on the south coast of New South Wales, pooled their milk and began to manufacture cheese, establishing one of the first dairy co-operatives in the country. The company quickly became known for its creamy, full flavoured, Cheddar-like cheese, and today offers a wide range of much-loved cheese products still made in Bega.
Devoted fans can visit the Bega Cheese Heritage Centre, which is a faithful reproduction of the original creamery building constructed in 1899 and offers an insightful look at the dairy’s history. Visitors can explore the on-site museum, shop and café and, of course, taste some cheese. The historic dairy producer also acquired the iconic Vegemite brand from Mondelēz International in 2017 – a match made in heaven, as evidenced by the classic savoury baked treat, cheesymite scrolls (pictured).
Rosella was established in 1895, when two friends based in Carlton, Melbourne started making fruit preserves and savoury sauces to sell locally. The brand introduced its iconic tomato sauce four years later, followed by Rosella’s Condensed Tomato Soup. A timeless classic in a tin, this punchy, full-flavoured flagship soup has something of a cult following and was considered a failsafe, wholesome meal back in the day.
The homegrown Aussie brand was bought by Lever & Kitchen (later Unilever) in 1963. After a few more ownership changes, the Rosella range is now owned by Sabrands Australia. In 2021, the brand announced its Condensed Tomato Soup had been discontinued. Fans reacted with dismay; petitions were written, signatures collected and Facebook groups launched, all calling for the soup’s return. It worked, and the soup was relaunched in 2022.
If you’re sipping a cuppa in Australia, chances are it will be a Bushells brew. The cherished brand originated in 1883, when Alfred Bushell opened a tea and coffee shop in Brisbane, Queensland. A few years later, in Sydney, his sons opened Bushell and Company – The Tea Men, going on to expand their store and wholesale business to Melbourne. By the 1900s they were well-known tea traders, and in the 1920s they opened a grand new head office and tea factory on Harrington Street in Sydney’s The Rocks – now a heritage-listed building.
The coffee manufacturing side of things ramped up in the 1950s; Bushells opened a new factory in Concord, Sydney, and tea production commenced here in 1958. In 1988, Bushells was acquired by Unilever, and its coffee brand was sold to FreshFood Services a decade later. Bushells Tea is now one of the local brands that sits within the global Lipton Teas and Infusions, the tea division sold by Unilver in 2022. Despite these changes, the iconic original tea tastes as full and smooth as ever, staying true to its one-time slogan ‘More cups - finer flavour’, shown here on an old painted advertisement for the brand.
Victoria-based Brockhoff Biscuits was founded in 1882 by German immigrant Adolph Brockhoff and is perhaps best known for producing Salada crackers, which first appeared in 1952 and quickly became (and remain) a pantry staple. The salty, baked crispbreads have distinctive perforations, which allow them to be snapped neatly into four smaller squares. They’re delicious dunked into dips or topped with Vegemite, and no cheese board is considered complete without them.
Brockhoff Biscuits became part of the Arnott’s family in 1962, after the burgeoning biscuit empire took over the brand. Regardless, Brockhoff will go down in Australian food history for introducing Salada crackers and two other classic savoury snacks beloved by Aussies over the decades: Savoy Crackers and Shapes. All three items remain among Arnott’s most popular products.
Arnott's founder William Arnott opened a bakehouse in Morpeth, New South Wales in 1847, after emigrating from his native Scotland. After enjoying great success selling long-life ship's biscuits (also known as hard tacks) to seamen in the busy river port, he established the Arnott's Steam Biscuit Factory in Newcastle in 1875, launching the famous Arnott’s Milk Arrowroot biscuits in 1882. When William died in 1901, his sons took over and introduced a number of new, exciting biscuits, including Iced VoVos, Arnott's Scotch Fingers (then known as Kiel Fingers), Malt‘O’Milks and Ginger Nuts.
In 1997, the company was acquired by the Campbell Soup Company, then sold to private equity firm KKR & Co in 2019. It now has a sweet and savoury treat for every occasion, including the most famous of all Aussie biccies, the Tim Tam. A pleasing twist in the Arnott’s tale saw the biscuit pioneer's great-great-great-grandson Steve Arnott recently purchase the original Morpeth bakery. He converted it into a guesthouse filled with memorabilia from the quintessentially Australian brand, and also runs sourdough bakery masterclasses there.
This beloved Aussie oats brand has been nourishing the nation since the 1860s. Its slightly convoluted origin story began when two brothers called Leonard and George Parsons arrived from England and began milling oats grown in Wahgunyah, Melbourne, initially under the name John Bull Oats then, later, Parsons Bros. The Uncle Tobys company name was first registered as a trademark in 1893 by Clifford, Love and Company in Sydney – its title inspired by the gentle Uncle Toby character in Laurence Sterne's novel The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman.
As well as fuelling the nation’s mornings with its porridge oats, the cereal brand became a staple for anyone whipping up the cultural culinary icon that is the Anzac biscuit, created around 1915 when the word Anzac (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) was established. Despite no longer being Aussie owned – Uncle Tobys was sold to Cereal Partners Worldwide, who make Nestlé Breakfast Cereals in 2006 – all of its oats are still grown on home turf.
Now discover the world’s oldest food brands that are still going strong