BlueIce "It's usually the same people who are supplying them at the same price."
original brands are usually launched at great expense
they are most likely top quality, as it makes little sense to capitalise a shoddy product considering that the raw materials are a small component of the packaged item
coles and woolies (and aldi...who!?...160 branches to date) offer unbranded products, sometimes but not usually the exact same product as the brand name
the consumer usually wins on price, but the brand names are being consistently undermined by the supermarkets
the end game is that all profits should flow to the supermarket and the supplier is merely a pawn left with the expense of providing and or promoting the product
whatever your philosophy on advertising, it is a real cost of production/marketing the supermarkets are not ripping off the public so much as ripping off the suppliers consumers are left with a choice of whether to buy a product inflated with promo or not
kelloggs would not, I suspect, supply corn flakes to coles under an assumed name; some suppliers do and are playing the game of cutting their own throats