The Kroger Co. is suing Lidl over one of its private labels, according to published reports.
In the suit, the company is objecting to Lidl’s Preferred Selection label, alleging that the brand identity is too similar to Kroger’s own Private Selection.
In the suit, Kroger claims that the Lidl brand corresponds closely enough to its Private Selection label in name and graphic appearance to generate consumer confusion about the two among consumers, the reports maintained.
Lidl, which entered the U.S. market for the first time last month, and Aldi, its main European competitor in the discount grocery, or as its known internationally, hard discount, trade channel both lean heavily toward private label products across the their assortments.
As Lidl entered the U.S. Market, Aldi announced that it is expediting its U.S. market growth strategy. Aldi, which has grown gradually in the U.S. since its market entrance in the 1970s, previously asserted that it would spend $1.6 billion to remodel 1,300 American stores by 2020. However, the company recently upped the ante, stating that it would invest an additional $3.4 billion in expanding to 2,500 stores across the U.S. by the end of 2022.
For its part, on June 21, Kroger announced that it would expand its exclusive Our Brands product line, which currently offers more than 30,000 items including food, beauty, personal care, pet and household essentials categories.
