Parmesan Cheese at Woolworths - Have They Changed Suppliers

LPsychopathicCult on 19/09/2025 - 11:11
Last edited 20/09/2025 - 15:13 by 1 other user

I regularly clean the fridge but must have kept missing this , I found an old packet of Coles Woolworths finely grated Parmesan cheese. The one in the small red packet 100g. Expiry 2019. It wasn't mouldy or opened so I used it, and it was super delicious on pasta.

I then went to buy another one and this one tasted like puke like you would expect Parmesan to taste like from the butrix acid.

My question is do you think Coles Woolworths changed the supplier since then and it tastes gross now or that length of time helped it mature and improved the taste. Thoughts?

Edit: oops got the supermarket wrong. It's Woolworths brand in the red packet not Coles. Sorry for the confusion

Related Stores

Woolworths

• 

  brainfog7 on 19/09/2025 - 11:14

  Compare the ingredients, particularly the preservatives on your old and new package and you will get your answer.

  Generally, you could probably expect that the supplier/recipe has changed since manufacture (2019 expiration date probably meant 2017-2018 production)

  • 

    PsychopathicCult on 19/09/2025 - 11:16

    Oh good idea. I'll check that when I get home tonight. I should still have the empty packet in the bin.

    • 

      tenpercent on 19/09/2025 - 11:21

      +10

      Report back when you find out? I've subscribed and I'm emotionally invested in this story now.

      • 

        PsychopathicCult on 20/09/2025 - 14:53

        +1

        I checked the ingredients list and it's the same down to the same percentages given. The brand was Woolworths too not Coles in the red packet . Oops

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  Randxyz123 on 19/09/2025 - 12:01

  I'm surprised the plastic hadn't gone all weird.

  @OP I'd look for a 36 month + aged one if you like the stronger flavour :)

  Google around to see if there is an Italian deli or grocer near you. They'll have a better selection than Coles! Probably won't be that much more expensive either.

  • 

    JimB on 19/09/2025 - 15:23

    72 months has even stronger flavour :)

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  bargaino on 19/09/2025 - 12:01

  +2

  Powdered parmesan does not even need refrigeration.
  Will keep forever unopened in fridge.

  Maybe the new one needs aging? :) The only preservative is salt.

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    try2bhelpful on 19/09/2025 - 16:17

    I found that out when I lost our grated Parmesan one day and found it in a cupboard in the second bedroom about 12 months later. It looked OK but I wasn’t game to eat it.

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    PsychopathicCult on 20/09/2025 - 14:57

    Yes I'm really considering buying a packet and storing it away to see it age. The 2019 packet I had was so nice.

    That's good to know Parmesan lasts a long time in the packet without refridgeration

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  jv on 19/09/2025 - 12:15

  My question is do you think Coles changed the supplier

  probably.

  • 

    tenpercent on 19/09/2025 - 15:41

    You probably think "coles changed the supplier"? Why aren't you sure?

    • 

      jv on 19/09/2025 - 17:18

      Why aren't you sure?

      I was away on annual leave at the time…

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  try2bhelpful on 19/09/2025 - 16:25

  I’m not really that surprised. When the toffs used to do the “grand tours” they would bring back wheels of Parmesan with them to England. Apparently when the great fire of Londen occurred Samuel Pepys buried his wheel of Parmesan in the garden. It seems to do fine without refrigeration.

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  bargaino on 20/09/2025 - 16:07

  Wheel of 20th-century Italian cheese smashes record for oldest parmesan

  The still-edible 36kg wheel was one of the last made in 1998 by Romano and Silvia Camorani at their dairy in Poviglio, a small town near Parma in Italy’s northern Emilia-Romagna region.

  The parmesan, estimated to be worth more than €20,000 (£17,000), was finally opened and sampled on Sunday at the age of 27 years and three months, beating the previous record of 21 years.

  “The aroma and taste were out of this world,” said Romano Camorani,

  • 

    tenpercent on 20/09/2025 - 19:46

    “The aroma and taste were out of this world,”

    That could be a good thing or a bad thing.