M&S to sell Choc on Choc matches over alleged copying | News

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Marks & Spencer has agreed to sell chocolates from a small family business after being accused of copying one of its products.

Choc on Choc products are set to hit M&S ​​shelves after social media users rushed to back up the artisan chocolatier’s claims that the retailer was selling a product that looked surprisingly similar to one of its own .

Company boss Flo Broughton claimed M&S’ Valentine’s Day-themed Perfect Match chocolate matchbox was an almost identical copy of a product it had been selling for years.

She called out the supermarket on social media last Friday after being alerted to the situation by one of her customers visiting an M&S store.

“It was clear they had copied my design, and I was extremely disappointed that a UK institution believed it was OK,” Broughton said.

Bath-based company Choc on Choc, which was originally founded by Broughton and his father in 2003, has been selling its giant white chocolate matches engraved with the words “Perfect Match” since 2015.

After her complaint, she received thousands of messages of support from consumers and other small businesses, prompting the attention of M&S, who contacted her over the weekend to address the issue.

On Monday, Broughton announced on LinkedIn that things had “moved pretty quickly” since she first raised the issue and reached a settlement with the retailer.

M&S has now committed to selling Choc on Choc matches, with the small business also striking other deals with the supermarket for personalized ranges for Mother’s Day and Easter.

“After all of your amazing support and social media mentions, the M&S marketing team reached out to me, requesting a call to chat,” she wrote. “We had a great conversation over the weekend with members of their marketing, PR, NPD, and buying/sales teams.

“I’m happy to say that they were not only very cooperative and open to conversation, but also very respectful of Choc on Choc’s product and my position as a small business.”

Additionally, Broughton said M&S has also committed to accepting more ideas from small businesses through its small supplier program, allowing them to pitch ideas to the grocer’s buyers.

“This is a huge step for all small businesses as an iconic UK retailer is committing to support us,” Broughton added.

An M&S spokesperson said: “We take intellectual property very seriously and when we saw Choc on Choc’s social media posts, we immediately got in touch. Choc On Choc are a fantastic company that produce quality chocolates and we are delighted to work with them as part of our small supplier program. »

M&S was recently embroiled in another copyright dispute with longtime legal rival Aldi after it accused the discounter of copying its Christmas snow globe gin.

This followed the duo’s widely reported battle over Aldi’s Cuthbert the Caterpillar cake, which M&S said was a copy of its own Colin the Caterpillar cake.

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