Roy Morgan Trusted Brand Awards 2022: Australia’s most trusted brands in five key industries

Roy Morgan presented the inaugural Roy Morgan Trusted Brand Awards for 2022 in mid-October and five of the key winners in the industries of mining and petroleum, automotive, utilities, food and beverage and travel and tourism are highlighted here.

Australian iron ore miner Fortescue Metals has won the inaugural most trusted brand among a field of over 30 of Australia’s (and the world’s) most prominent mining and petroleum companies. Fortescue Metals was the sole entrant in the category to emerge with a positive net trust score in the 12 months to June 2022 after overtaking BHP late in 2021.

Toyota has topped the industry rankings as the most trusted brand in automotive over the last four years since Roy Morgan began interviewing Australians about trust and distrust in 2018. Toyota has been Australia’s best-selling automotive manufacturer for 25 years in a row and has easily won the inaugural award ahead of fellow Japanese manufacturer Mazda and South Korean based Hyundai.

The hotly contested utilities category has been won by Melbourne-based Red Energy which has had an unblemished record as the ‘Most Trusted Utility Brand’ since Roy Morgan surveying on trust and distrust began over four years ago in 2018.

Red Energy is known for competitively priced offerings and a heavy focus on delivering renewable and sustainable energy to its customers with the energy retailer finishing on top of the category ahead of other finalists including Alinta Energy and Synergy.

In the Food & Beverage category it was Cadbury that emerged as the most trusted brand ahead of more than 80 rival brands – one of the most heavily contested categories awarded. Cadbury, which set up in Australia over a century ago has had the highest net trust score in the category since early 2020 after taking the lead from Arnott’s. Cadbury took first place ahead of fellow finalists Bega and Sanitarium.

Despite a year of unprecedented travel chaos which has impacted airlines, and many airline passengers, it is the flying kangaroo Qantas which is Australia’s most trusted Travel & Tourism brand in 2022 ahead of rival Virgin. Qantas’ reputation for safety and quick responses to crises built over decades clearly still carry a significant advantage for the world’s third oldest continuing airline – which began in November 1920.

Over 230 brands were in the running for these awards across the five categories of Mining & Petroleum, Automotive, Utilities, Food & Beverage and Travel & Tourism and the full list of contenders in each category for these prestigious awards are listed fully later in this release.

Roy Morgan Trusted Brand Key winners for 2022:

Most Trusted Brand for Mining & Petroleum: Fortescue Metals

Western Australia based Fortescue Metals has won the inaugural ‘Most Trusted Brand in Mining & Petroleum’ Award for 2022 with a clear victory ahead of rival companies in the sector. The Perth-headquartered miner has maintained top spot in the rankings since December 2021 after overtaking BHP.

Fortescue Metals had easily the highest trust among over 30 brands which contested the Mining & Petroleum award this year including Alcoa, Ampol / Caltex, BHP, Bluescope, BP, Bravus / Adani, Chevron, Esso, Exxon, Glencore, Halliburton, Hancock Prospecting, Lynas Rare Earths, Mobil, New Hope Group, Newcrest Mining, Orica, Oz Minerals, Peabody Energy, Penrite Oil, Rio Tinto, Santos, Shell, South32, United Petroleum, Whitehaven Coal, Woodside Petroleum and Yancoal.

Some of the positive comments from Australians about why they trust Fortescue Metals were ‘This company more than any other supports and backs Australia and deserves more credit’, and ‘Andrew Forrest (Fortescue Metals founder and CEO) is the type of leader you want to see. A great philanthropist and proactive in the sustainable energy sector.’

Most Trusted Brand for Automotive: Toyota

Toyota has consistently rated as the ‘Most Trusted Brand in Automotive’ since Roy Morgan began measuring trust and distrust over four years ago in 2018. Toyota’s is one of the top ten most trusted brands across any industry and topped the Automotive category ahead of rivals Mazda and Hyundai.

There were over 40 brands mentioned by Australians that contested the Most Trusted Brand in Automotive including Audi, BMW, Chrysler, Fiat, Ford, GM / General Motors, Great Wall, Harley Davidson, Holden, Honda, Isuzu, Jayco, Jeep, Kawasaki, Kia, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz, Mini, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Skoda, Subaru, Suzuki, Tesla, Volkswagen, Volvo and Yamaha.

Some of the positive comments from Australians about why they trust Toyota were ‘The vehicles they manufacture speak for the quality of the business. They are reliable, withstand Australian conditions, and are durable’ and ‘Toyota build quality vehicles at reasonable prices. Vehicles that just keep going and going.’

Most Trusted Brand for Utilities: Red Energy

Red Energy has won the inaugural ‘Most Trusted Utility Brand’ after finishing ahead of a packed field of nearly 50 contenders. Red Energy has led the category almost since its exception in 2018 and has held off increases during the last year by the other finalists Alinta Energy and Synergy.

Red Energy was the most highly trusted brand among over 30 rival energy companies including 1st Energy, AGL / Actew AGL, APA Group, Aurora, Ausgrid, AusNet Services, Click Energy, Elgas, Endeavour Energy, Energex, Energy Australia, Enova Energy, Ergon Energy, Essential Energy, Globird, Horizon, Hydro Tasmania, Integral Energy, Jemena, Kleenheat, Lumo, Momentum, Origin Energy, Power Direct, Powercor, Powershop, SA Power Networks, Simply Energy, Stanwell, Tango, TasNetworks, United Energy and Western Power and several water companies in the category such as Barwon Water, Central Highlands Water, City West Water, Hunter Water, Icon Water, SA Water, South East Water, Sydney Water, Tas Water, Water Corporation WA, WaterNSW and Yarra Valley Water.

Some of the positive comments from people about why they trust Red Energy were ‘They are Australian-owned and operated and offer 100% renewable energy and are competitively priced’ and ‘Red Energy are an Australian company that’s investing in sustainable energy sources.’

Most Trusted Brand for Food & Beverage: Cadbury

Australia’s most trusted brand in Food & Beverage is well-known chocolate manufacturer Cadbury which is these days a subsidiary of multinational food and beverage company Mondelez. Cadbury emerged ahead of cheese manufacturer Bega and cereal and vegetarian product producer Sanitarium.

Cadbury has been the most trusted brand in Food & Beverage since moving up the rankings early in 2020 and taking the top position previously held by Arnott’s.

There were a large field of brands for Cadbury to overcome to emerge as the winner in the Food & Beverage category with over 80 brands providing the competition including a2 Milk, Ardmona, Barilla, Beerenberg, Ben & Jerry’s, Bickfords, Birdseye, Brownes Dairy, Bulla, Bundaberg, Capilano, Carman’s, Coca-Cola Amatil, Cottees, Dairy Farmers, Darrell Lea, Devondale, Dilmah, Edgell, Farmers Union, Freedom Foods, Golden Circle, Haigh’s Chocolates, Heinz, Hills, John West, Kellogg’s, Kraft, Lindt, Maleny Dairies, Mars Foods, Masterfoods, McCain, Meat & Livestock Australia, Melrose Health, Nescafe, Nespresso, Nestle, Norco, Pepsi/Pepsico, Peters, Pura Milk, Retail Food Group, Schweppes, Smith’s Chips, SPC, Tassal, Tip Top Bakeries, Twinings, Uncle Toby’s, Vegemite, Weet-Bix and Whiskas.

Amongst the 80 brands in this category there were also pre-prepared food and quick service restaurants to compete with such as Baker’s Delight, Boost Juice, Brumby’s Bakery, Burger King, Domino’s Pizza, Gloria Jean’s, Grill’d, Hello Fresh, Hungry Jack’s, KFC, Krispy Kreme, McDonald’s, Muffin Break, Nando’s, Pizza Hut, Red Rooster, Starbucks, Subway and Zambrero.

In addition, there were well-known alcohol brands including ALH/ ALH Group, Carlton & United Breweries, Coopers Brewery, Lion, Penfolds, Tooheys, Wild Turkey as well as Graincorp and Cargill.

Some of the positive comments from Australians about why they trust Cadbury were ‘Cadbury is a great Australian company that supports the local dairy farmers in Tasmania. They provide a great range of chocolates at affordable prices’ and ‘Cadbury is a tried and true company that never lets you down.’

Most Trusted Brand for Travel & Tourism: Qantas

Qantas has led the way on trust for years and, despite the troubles experienced earlier this year with significant airport and airline disruptions, the enduring strength of its brand built up over decades has shone through as the most trusted brand in the travel & tourism industry contested between 30 brands.

Coming in second place as a trusted brand in the Travel & Tourism industry was rival airline Virgin while other airlines to be rated on their trustworthiness in the last year included Air New Zealand, American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Emirates, Etihad Airways, Jetstar, Malaysia Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways and Tiger Airways as well as hotels such as Accor Hotels, Hilton Hotels and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts.

Other brands mentioned included airplane manufacturer Boeing and travel agent, review, booking services such as Booking.com, Expedia, Flight Centre, Lonely Planet, Scenic Travel Agency, Trip Advisor, Trivago and Webjet as well as car/ accommodation hire companies Airbnb, Europcar, Herts and Thrifty. Also in this category are APT (Australian Pacific Touring) and space exploration company SpaceX.

Some of the positive comments from Australians about why they trust Qantas were ‘Qantas has a safety record which is amongst the best in the world. I feel safe flying with this airline, the most important aspect of flying’ and ‘Qantas has a great reputation in Australia and always responds well to any crisis it faces.’

For comments or more information about Roy Morgan’s Annual Trusted Brand Award data please contact:

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Roy Morgan Trusted Brand Awards

The inaugural Roy Morgan Trusted Brand Awards bring together outstanding companies and brands across a range of industries to celebrate and recognise the unmatched levels of trust these organisations hold when compared to their competitors in their respective categories.

The Roy Morgan Trusted Brand Awards have been awarded for the first time this year to 20 leading brands for the 12 months to June 2022 and all 20 winners have displayed market-leading levels of trust, and exceedingly low, or negligible, levels of distrust to outstrip their rivals on the key metric of ‘Net Trust’.

Need to know what is driving your trust and distrust?

The related Roy Morgan Risk Monitor is an ongoing survey based on over 1,800 interviews each month to measure levels of trust and distrust in more than 900 brands across 26 industry sectors.

Respondents are asked which brands and companies they trust, and why, and which brand and companies they distrust, and why. The survey is specially designed to be open-ended and context-free, i.e. unprompted.

Roy Morgan Risk Monitor data is made available in a variety of formats, from snapshot overviews to detailed tracking of individual brands and their competitors. To gain a greater understanding of Roy Morgan’s Risk research, or to explore the results for specific industries and brands, contact Roy Morgan.

For the latest rankings of key brands view the June 2022 edition of the Roy Morgan Risk Report.