Wattie's frozen out of top pack

Wattie's has topped the Most Trusted Brand in the Reader's Digest Most Trusted Brands Frozen Foods category. Photo / File

Wattie's has topped the Most Trusted Brand in the Frozen Foods category of the annual Reader's Digest Most Trusted Brands survey, ahead of McCain and Tegel, but is absent from the overall winner's podium.

Chocolate maker Whittaker's has come out on top for the fourth year in a row. It won the confectionery category and named most iconic New Zealand brand.

Dettol and Toyota sit second and third place, respectively, on the most trusted list.

Reader's Digest Australasian editor-in-chief Sue Carney said Whittakers was the No1 brand across all categories.

The survey ranks New Zealand's top 10 trusted brands, 40 category winners, and top five most-trusted charities. The winner of this year's Most Trusted Charity is St John.

While Wattie's didn't shine in the overall Readers Digest list, last month it was named the country's Most Influential Brand in the packaged-goods category of a survey by global market research company IPSOS, reigning over Sanitarium, Cadbury and Whittaker's.

Judging factors were: leading edge, trustworthiness, engagement, citizenship and presence.

In 2013 Wattie's ranked fourth in the Reader's Digest Most Trusted New Zealand Brands survey.

Wattie's plans launching a range of frozen vegetables in China, with the vegetables sourced from Canterbury, after finding counterfeit food in the marketplace.