A few years on since Aldi and Marks and Spencer settled their Colin the Caterpillar dispute, Aldi is in hot water with another manufacturer over its dupe-like products.
Snack giant Mondelez is suing the budget supermarket chain over the way it ‘blatantly copies’ packaging with its own-brand confectionery, according to the lawsuit.
Mondelez is the name behind Oreo, Chips Ahoy and Triscuit, and it filed the lawsuit against Aldi on May 27th 2025 in the federal court of Illinois. Aldi, a German company, has its US headquarters in Illinois where Mondelez is also based.
The lawsuit claims that Aldi’s packaging strategy, which Mondelez claims mimics its own, is ‘likely to deceive and confuse’ customers.
Known for its budget-friendly groceries, Aldi largely sells its own biscuits, chocolates and sweets at a lower price than the big-name brands.
Mondelez said it has previously contacted Aldi over ‘copycats’ in its lineup, citing similarities with designs for Oreos, Teddy Grahams, Belvita biscuits, Triscuit crackers and Tate’s Bake Shop cookies.
According to Mondelez, Aldi ‘discontinued’ and ‘changed certain of these infringing products’, but it seems the German grocer hasn’t taken enough remedial measures for Mondelez’s liking.
In the lawsuit, Mondelez claims that Aldi’s chocolate chip cookies, Thin Wheat crackers, and peanut butter creme-filled cookies all have packaging that closely resembles that of Mondelez brands Chips Ahoy, Wheat Thins and Nutter Butter respectively.
It claims that Aldi’s packaging approach threatens to harm Mondelez’s brands.
“I can go to the store and reasonably assume that I recognise the name, and that’s who I’m buying from,” said Josh Gerben, a trademark lawyer who isn’t involved in the lawsuit, according to CNN. “[Some customers] think that they might be buying something from the Oreo brand or Wheat Thins, but they’re actually getting a substitute.”
The lawsuit seeks monetary damages along with a court order preventing Aldi from selling products with similar designs and packaging to name brands.
As previously mentioned, Aldi has run into similar issues with competitors before. In 2022, M&S and Aldi reached an agreement that would see the latter discontinue its Cuthbert the Caterpillar cakes which closely resemble the former’s Colin the Caterpillar.
Cider brand Thatchers won an appeal against Aldi in January 2025 over trademark infringement pertaining to the grocer’s cloudy lemon cider.
Squash manufacturer Robinsons has also accused Aldi of trademark infringement over its own-brand products, too.
FOODBible has approached Aldi and Mondelez for comment.
Featured Image Credit: NurPhoto/Contributor/Getty Images
Rachael Davis