Oreo Cookie Manufacturer Suing Aldi Grocery Chain

Oreo may be the cookie of choice for millions of Americans in the grocery aisle, but the snack's manufacturer is looking to stop another brand from taking free real estate on its turf.

Oreo's parent company Mondelez International is suing the Aldi chain of grocery stores, alleging that packaging for their store-brand products “blatantly copies” their offerings.

In addition to Oreo, Mondelez also makes Chips Ahoy and Wheat Thins along with Nutter Butter and Nilla wafers.

Mondelez says that Aldi's packaging for the store-brand version of all of those products infringes upon the branding and packaging it uses. 

They say Aldi's packaging is “likely to deceive and confuse customers," and that it could do irreparable harm to Mondelez and the affected brands.

In order to illustrate their point, Mondelez showed side-by-side images of the two products. The Aldi-brand Thin Wheat crackers come in a gold box, just like Mondelez's Wheat Thins. 

The same can be said for Aldi’s chocolate sandwich cookies and Oreos, which both come in blue packaging. Golden Round crackers from Aldi also come in a red box - just like the Ritz brand of crackers owned by Mondelez.

Through the lawsuit, Mondelez is seeking monetary compensation as well as a cease and desist for Aldi to refrain from selling the products in question.

Aldi, a chain that specializes in low-cost options, often stocks store-brand versions of other popular items. The lack of direct name-brand advertising keeps product costs down, and those savings are passed to the consumer.

This isn't the first time that Aldi has come under fire for the way it packages its products. Last year, an Australian court ruled that the grocery store infringed on Baby Bellies' copyright - a snack brand for small children. Once again, Aldi's packaging featured a cartoon bird and similar colors to the brand of kids' snacks.

Another appeals court in the United Kingdom also ruled in favor of Thatchers cider company last year. The company sued Aldi in 2024, alleging that the grocery store benefitted from utilizing a certain kind of packages for its own brand of lemon cider.

Mondelez says they've contacted Aldi before about similar issues and they've been rectified, but that it now appears that some items remain on the shelf. We'll see if Aldi can emerge after yet another lawsuit centered around claims of misleading advertising.