ALDI: Please Don’t Sue Us, We Have A New Look

For ALDI, defending itself against lookalike lawsuits has long been just the cost of doing business. Now, it’s changing its tune, and its look.

The discount grocer is revamping its private label products with a unifying name and appearance “that proudly puts ALDI on the front of every package.”

More than 90% of ALDI’s products are private label, but they feature a dizzying array of looks and names, often modeled after the brand-name counterparts they aim to replicate. You may or may not realize that that orange box of Millville Honey Nut Crispy Oats is an ALDI brand, but you sure know it looks a whole lot like General Mills’ Honey Nut Cheerios, which is no accident.

Now, ALDI is no longer hiding its own products behind lookalike labels, but proudly identifying them as ALDI brands.

“In direct response to customer feedback,” ALDI announced this morning, its private label products “will now carry either the ALDI brand or a bold ‘an ALDI Original’ endorsement.” Certain more recognizable ALDI brands like Clancy’s, Simply Nature and Specially Selected will remain on the shelves, with new looks and “an ALDI Original” on the labels. Others will be revamped and renamed as ALDI brands – the colors and packaging may still look like their name-brand equivalents, but no longer to the point of customer confusion.

ALDI says it’s an effort “to make its trusted private labels even more recognizable for shoppers.” And, perhaps, less recognizable for its litigious competitors.

ALDI has been sued numerous times over the years, most recently by snack maker Mondelēz, for designing its packages to look a little too similar to the name brand products they’re looking to replicate. Mondelēz filed a federal lawsuit back in June, accusing ALDI of using “private label product packaging that blatantly copies” several of Mondelēz’s “universally recognizable and iconic brands,” including Oreo, Wheat Thins, Nutter Butter, Chips Ahoy!, Nilla Wafers, Ritz and Premium.

Prior to the Mondelēz case, which is still ongoing, ALDI settled at least two cases brought against it by King’s Hawaiian and Angel Soft toilet paper maker Georgia-Pacific, both of which argued that ALDI’s brands were lookalike knockoffs that sought to confuse customers, consciously or otherwise, into believing they were buying the national brands. The look of both ALDI brand equivalents was soon changed following each settlement.

ALDI’s very “business model involves an emphasis on low-priced private label products that resemble the look and feel of well-known brands,” Mondelēz argued in its lawsuit.

Now, after this new packaging revamp, it apparently no longer does.

Not only will ALDI’s changes likely discourage further lawsuits, but they’re a recognition that a store brand label is now a selling point in its own right. As shoppers look for value, a number of recent studies and surveys have shown they’re increasingly seeking out store brands, which they now see as affordable and just-as-good alternatives to more expensive name brands.

“Our customers already call our private labels ‘ALDI brands,’ and we’re excited to officially recognize them with a name they can see and trust,” ALDI Chief Commercial Officer Scott Patton said in a statement. “Our research shows customers associate ALDI with affordability, value, quality and convenience. Now, they can feel confident knowing our trusted name is behind every exclusive product in their cart.”

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. But “flattery” on ALDI’s shelves has proven costly. Now, a new look and a new name for ALDI products could clear up any confusion, for the benefit of ALDI’s customers – and to the relief of ALDI’s lawyers.

Image source: ALDI