Tom Reynolds Apr 13, 2026
Copycatting is proof of the value of brand
Copycat—or lookalike—packaging tells us something important about the brand economy: it works.
I was reminded of this recently thinking back to shopping trips with my grandfather in the early 00s, when Aldi first opened in my hometown, taking over an abandoned Safeway store. At the time, it stocked much the same range you’d find in Aldi in Germany—simple, no-frills products at genuinely competitive prices. For us, on a tight budget, it worked brilliantly (and sparked a lasting fondness for frikadellen), but for others not so much.
But over the following two decades, that model shifted. Increasingly, the strategy has relied on systematic imitation—products designed to resemble established brands through similar packaging, colours and visual cues. Today, Aldi has grown to become the fourth largest grocery retailer in the UK, with lookalike packaging a visible part of that journey.
This matters because it highlights where value really sits. Brands invest heavily in building recognition, trust and loyalty. Lookalikes seek to capture that value without making the same investment—using packaging to suggest equivalence where it does not exist.
If imitation becomes an accepted route to growth, the incentive for value-creating brands to invest weakens. That is not good for consumers, competition or the long-term health of the market.
I firmly believe policymakers should act to address lookalike packaging as a misleading practice. Is this something they’re open to?
