Cheezels are a brand of Australian snack food currently produced by Snack Brands Australia. Made from corn and rice, they are a crisp puffy ring with a strong, savoury cheddar cheese flavour and aroma. Due to the ring structure of the snack itself, Cheezels are often eaten off of the consumers fingers. They are similar in texture to cheese puffs, American Cheetos, or Canadian Cheezies.
In some countries they are distributed by Laura Matte (which since 2016 has been owned by Universal Robina Corporation, and previously by The Real McCoy Snackfood Company). In Malaysia, Cheezels were originally produced by Danone and later by Kraft Foods, and are currently owned by Mondelēz International, together with Twisties. In New Zealand, Cheezels are manufactured by Bluebird Foods Ltd a PepsiCo company, which is a competitor to Snack Brands Australia, the manufacturer of Cheezels in Australia.
The New Zealand version of Cheezels are not as crisp in texture or as strong cheddar cheese flavour as their Australian counterpart.
Cheezels are a highly popular snack in Australia, selling over 18.2 million packets in 2025.
History
According to any modern packet of Cheezels, the snack entered the market in 1971. Company folklore has it that the creative team were stuck for a name when the boss chipped in with "Just call 'em Cheezels". One account credits the brand name to Ken Farrington (an account executive at the advertising agency Masius, which worked with snack companies around 1970).
As of 2017 Cheezels are gluten free.
Flavours Usually, Cheezels are made from corn and rice,Snack Brands Cheezels web page and many kinds of powdered cheeses. Other flavours of the snack have been produced by Snack Brands Australia, such as: Original Cheese Chicken Pizza Cheese & Bacon Hoops & Crosses Burger Flavour Minis - miniature versions of Cheezels Chilli Cheese Salt & Vinegar Burger Hoops Barbecue
International Variants
See also Twisties Cheetos
References