Aldi is facing legal action from small businesses over knock-off products
Family run businesses behind Heck sausages and The Collective yogurts claim that the budget supermarket is ripping off their products
ALDI has come under fire from family-run businesses which claims the retailer is ripping-off its goods.
The budget supermarket is known for its look-a-like products but now producers are fighting back and threatening legal action.
If they are successful then it could have a big impact on the types of own label food that's stocked in discounters like Aldi, Lidl and Poundland, who use this marketing tactic on their own goods.
The latest to accuse the retailer of "duping" their luxury products is posh dairy brand The Collective.
They claim that Aldi's new luxury Moo! Gourmet Yoghurt is too similar to their Gourmet live yogurt - and it even comes in the same flavours including fudge.
The tubs of dairy are a similar size too and both feature unmixed flavour and yogurt, which gives the food an interesting cow patch look.
Amelia Harvey, 38, from The Collective said: "We've always been up for healthy competition, but we're confused why a successful brand like Aldi doesn't market these ranges under their strong own label brand, rather than deliberately imitating others and causing confusion amongst shoppers."
They're also in in talks with other frustrated small producers and threatening to take legal action, like Heck.
Sausage boss Andrew Keeble, 58, branded the German retailer a "parasite" after it launched a range of almost identical chicken chipolatas.
Aldi's Ashfield Farm sausages were even branded in a black tray with an orange sleeve, and white and red lettering.
The font is pretty similar too, both in block capitals with a drop shadow to the left.
He told The Sun: "Our customers kept getting in touch to say that Aldi is ripping-off our products and they're not the same products.
"For example their sausages contain more fat, which is deceiving for our health and fitness following.
"We do a lot of charity work like raising awareness of testicular cancer and it's not fair they such a big business is riding off our good work."
Andrew contacted the retailer to politely ask them to stop selling the knock-off sausages but was instead handed a threatening legal letter.
He added: "I'm not just a grumpy Yorkshire man kicking up a fuss about this, there are many businesses who feel this way.
"I thought they'd be sympathetic to family-run businesses like ours but they're not at all."
Discounters often copy marketing for their own brands to get shoppers to choose the cheaper version over the branded ones.
It's part of the reason behind the success of discounters like Aldi and Lidl, which is causing bigger retailers like Tesco to rethink their value branding.
In 2014, Aldi was slapped with a temporary injunction by Saucy Fish Co owner Icelandic Seachill for its Saucy Salmon Fish range.
But that hasn't put them off because the budget supermarket launched a line of Specially Selected ready meals which was "inspired" by posher Charlie Bigham ones and come in the same flavours like macaroni cheese and pancetta.
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The discounter is even selling its own Coco Loco coconut oil that looks suspiciously similar to the more expensive Vita Coco tubs.
Plus their entire Easter chocolate range looked almost identical to more luxurious ones from Cadbury and Lindt.
A spokesperson for Aldi told The Sun that they package their own-brand goods in a way that's "easily recognisable" and use "industry standard colouring".
An Aldi spokesperson said: "We go to great lengths to ensure that we adhere to strict copyright guidelines.
"Shoppers come to Aldi specifically to buy our exclusive own-label brands.
"These brands are part of our unique proposition and a key reason why we are the UK’s fastest-growing supermarket. We have not had any complaints from customers who feel they have been misled."
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But just because products look the same, doesn't mean that they taste the same as our Bargain Hunter found out.
One of the reason bigger brands don't tend to kick off at the retailer's copycats could be because they actually produce the knock-off products too.
Own brand Hula Hoops at Aldi look and taste just like the original ones — because they are made by the same firm.
Retailers can get in real trouble if they're caught doing it. Poundland were forced to pull their Toblerone copycat Twin Peaks bars after chocolatiers Mondelez launched a legal battle against them.
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