Kraft peanut butter is back in Australia, but Bega says only its spread is the original
AFTER more than a year’s absence, Kraft peanut butter is back on supermarket shelves. Or is it?
That’s the question facing shoppers with archrival Bega insisting that only it now owns and produces the “never oily, never dry” spread Australians grew up with. Whatever is in the new — and almost identical — Kraft jars, it’s not the real thing, the Aussie firm has said.
It’s the latest chapter in an increasingly bitter breakfast time battle between US giant Kraft, now owned by Heinz, and NSW dairy Bega which bought most of Kraft’s Australian operations for $460 million last year.
The two are due to face each other in court this week over allegations of trademark infringement.
The victor will likely go on to dominate the $110 million Australian peanut butter spread market.
Jenni Romaniuk, a research professor at Uni SA’s Ehrenberg-Bass Institute and author of Building Distinctive Brand Assets told news.com.au the spread stoush was “a bit of a mess” and it could ultimately be “bad news for Bega” if shoppers flocked back to the familiar Kraft name.
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