Coles Smart Buy

I’ve been checking what’s in the products that I buy recently, and have noticed something interesting. In quite a few products that I’ve checked, the ingredients of the “Smart Buy” and “You’ll Love Coles” brands are identical. Not only that, but the nutritional values are identical, which means these products are being used in the same proportions.

So, why is “Smart Buy” (usually) so much cheaper. My wife and I had a bit of a think about it. We’ve come up with a few ideas:

1. The packaging costs more for “You’ll love Coles”. Possible – considering that they would have to pay the people on the front for their photos.
2. Coles uses older stock for the “Smart Buy” brand. This is possible, but unlikely, considering that the use buy dates are similar. However, Coles could be artificially shortening the use by dates for the “You’ll Love Coles” brand.
3. Advertising.

Can you think of any others? Because apart from that, you’re paying for advertising, dubious freshness and the pretty packaging.