Pams’ ‘starwberry’ cheesecake typo spotted in supermarkets nationwide

A Pams cheesecake product was distributed nationwide with a typo on its packaging, with strawberry spelt as 'starwberry'. Photo / Reddit

• Pams strawberry cheesecake packaging featured a typo, spelling “strawberry” as “starwberry”.
• Admitting it “slipped through our checks”, Foodstuffs kept the product on shelves to avoid waste.
• The typo has been corrected for future production, but some faulty packages may still appear.

Foodstuffs’ privately owned supermarket label Pams missed a spelling mistake before sending one of its latest products to market, with people across the country coming home with a “starwberry” cheesecake.

Foodstuffs told the Herald the typo had “slipped through our checks” when launching the product last year, but kept it in market “to avoid unnecessary waste”.

Although the packaging has been corrected, “a few ‘Starwberry’ cheesecakes might still pop up” in stores “while existing stock sells through”.

“A future collector’s item, maybe?”

Pams’ strawberry cheesecake — released by the brand in late 2024 — is a frozen, store-bought dessert Kiwis can grab in Foodstuffs-owned supermarkets.

Since its release, customers nationwide have come across what the packaging describes as a “starwberry cheesecake”.

The typo, which runs along the side of the box in capitals, was missed during production before the food was packaged and distributed to stores.

The Pams 'starwberry' cheesecake product was introduced in 2024.

“@pams.nz intrigued by this new fruit...”, one person said when sharing a photo of their mislabelled cheesecake.

Another suggested the typo could have been a design mistake, posting on Reddit’s New Zealand subreddit: “Oh man, graphic designers with dyslexia, I tell you, we exist. I once made a (very obvious) typo on 2000 drink tokens. I hope the AA enjoyed their Christmas party and Dink Tokens that year...“

Others seemed amused by the typo, sharing their own experiences with other New Zealand brands.

“Forever delighted by the ‘astronaught’ bedspread I bought my kid from The Warehouse,” one wrote.

“A friend recently purchased several bags of sugar (Woolworths brand), all of which were labelled as being 1.5g,” another said.

Some people took the opportunity to crack grammatical jokes, with one writing: “Well, that’s the last starw!”

A Pams spokesperson told the Herald they were “aware of the typo” on the product packaging.

“We’ve since corrected the artwork, and any new production will have the right spelling.”

Founded in 1937, Pams is one of Aotearoa’s leading food brands.

Arising from a dispute between Foodstuffs and the Wholesale Merchants Association, it initially sold baking powder and custard powder through Four Square, Foodstuffs’ original supermarket chain.

It has since grown its product portfolio to over 2000 unique goods.

According to Foodstuffs, Pams is the most popular supermarket brand in New Zealand, with more than a million Kiwis buying its products each week on average.

Tom Rose is an Auckland-based journalist who covers breaking news, specialising in lifestyle, entertainment and travel. He joined the Herald in 2023.