TheSun.co.uk tries to unmask manufacturers of private brand SKUs

British newspaper TheSun.co.uk this month published two articles that reportedly reveal the name-brand manufacturers of certain store brand products. The articles stress the value of “clone brand” items and question the markup of comparable brand-name SKUs.

• Published on April 17, the first article points out the similarities between Aldi Snackrite Hoops and name-brand Hula Hoops, made by KP Snacks. A consumer who discovered a Hula Hoops toy in a box of Snackrite Hoops alerted the newspaper to the likelihood that KP Snacks manufactures the Aldi product.
• A second article, published on April 23, discloses other Aldi products that likely are made by well-known national brand manufacturers. The media company’s “investigation” apparently consisted of comparing ingredient labels between Aldi and name-brand SKUs.

In posted comments, several readers took the newspaper to task for unveiling what is already common knowledge.