The supermarket copycat saga continues... this time it's chocolate

We are all now absolutely familiar with the concept of ‘copycats’ and ‘lookalikes’ in the context of supermarket own-brand products, most notably those of discount supermarkets.

The latest in the saga is Lidl, who have produced a chocolate bar imitating the well-known Tony Chocolonely's unequally divided bars. Tony Chocolonely's chocolate bars are unequally divided to highlight the inequality in the supply chain of chocolate, with cocoa growers often not receiving a fair price for their product.

Tony Chocolonely has five sourcing principles for its chocolate products, such as being deforestation free and reducing child labour. This now forms a key part of the brand's message through Tony's Open Chain, an industry leading initiative for the supply of chocolate. Lidl is notably not part of this initiative.

Tony Chocolonely have directly called out Lidl, noting that it ‘doesn’t feel right' that the supermarket has copied the unequal bar design without committing to the same sourcing principles on which Tony Chocolonely is founded.

Discount supermarkets are notorious for copying and imitating key branding aspects to mimic established brands (and ultimately benefit from their appeal) but it seems Lidl have fallen short here by not also ensuring their lookalike product meets the same sourcing, ethics and sustainability standards as the product they are copying. Lidl hit back to confirm their product meets Fairtrade standards but it remains to be seen whether they will adopt the Tony's Open Chain initiative.