Asda and Waitrose are in the midst of a ‘brand war’ after Asda announced plans to launch a cut-price range with a similar name to the high-end rival's budget own-brand range.
‘Just Essentials by Asda’ is too similar to ‘Essential Waitrose’, according to a letter to Asda from Waitrose's lawyers.
A spokesperson from Asda argued that “the word 'essentials' is a generic and commonly used term by retailers to describe their value product ranges”.
Waitrose, which is part of the John Lewis Partnership, sells about 1,000 products in its Essentials range, which was first launched in 2009 and expanded in 2020, when the grocer said it was its best-selling brand and accounted for a quarter of own-brand sales.
“We were surprised to hear that Asda is launching an essentials range as the ‘Essential Waitrose’ brand has been in use since 2009 and has built up a strong reputation for value, quality and higher welfare standards in that time,” a spokesperson for Waitrose told the Telegraph.
“As we’ve also protected the name as a trademark, we have raised this with Asda and are awaiting a response.”
Asda, which yesterday reported its first annual results after the takeover by the Issa brothers, is said to deem the two brands as incomparable, given its products will be significantly cheaper than Waitrose’s mid-tier range.
Waitrose is yet to decide whether to pursue legal action against Asda, the Telegraph reported.
Asda’s rebranding comes hot on the heels of a recent announcement that it would sell a wider range of low-price products with the cost-of-living crisis worsening, as it attempts to overtake Sainsbury’s as the UK’s second-largest supermarket.
Data released from Kantar, a data and insight company, found supermarket price inflation of 5.2%, its highest in a decade, was sending shoppers to own-label products and discounters such as Aldi and Lidl.