A Waitrose shopper says he has ditched the supermarket and switched to budget German chain Aldi after spotting a packaging error on his latest groceries.
The man, who wants to be known only as Joe, made the change after a recent shopping trip to Waitrose in Leighton Buzard.
He spent £2.99 on a pack of Waitrose cocktail blinis - but when he got them home he saw the labels on the back were for Aldi products.
Checking in store, he found the same product in Aldi would have cost him just 99p, reports The Mirror.
Joe said: "I've been a Waitrose customer with my family all of my life. It's extremely disappointing to find you've paid the expensive Waitrose price for a much cheaper product."
He added: "I have been shopping at Aldi instead. Why should I bother paying expensive prices if I can get the same product much cheaper?
"The item I purchased tasted exactly the same as the Aldi version - so it makes sense to just pay the lower price."
The customer, who works for the NHS, said it's not the first time he's seen items with Aldi branding in his local store, either.
"I've noticed this before. A friend that works at Waitrose says this happens all the time and that the managers say to just throw it away and not to report it," he said.
"I’m aware it’s happened on the Mediterranean roasting vegetables where an Aldi product has been used in Waitrose stores," he said.
The practice of sharing supplier between supermarket own brands is remarkably common in the industry - with one company frequently making products for several different brands.
That doesn't mean the products are necessarily the same, though, with suppliers sometimes reserving better-quality produce for more expensive ranges, despite both sets being produced in the same factory.
A Waitrose spokesman said: "We are sorry for the mix up and we are investigating how this happened with our supplier. Although, like all retailers, we sometimes share suppliers, we have our own specifications for each product."
An Aldi spokesperson said: “Our savvy customers know they don’t have to sacrifice quality for affordability. When you shop at Aldi, the only thing that’s lower is the price .”
