Beer brand Madrí has faced criticism over its slightly dubious origins as the seemingly Spanish beer is actually brewed in Yorkshire.

However, it is not the only big brand to be dubbed fake. We round up the grocery retailers and brands accused of misleading consumers in recent years.

The Molson Coors-owned ‘Spanish’ brand, which markets itself as “the soul of Madrid” has come under criticism due to the fact it is, in fact, brewed in Yorkshire.

The brand has been growing rapidly in the UK since rolling out in pubs in 2020 and is now available in the majority of the UK’s leading supermarkets.

During this time, it has become one of the most popular beer brands in Britain with annual sales hitting £93.3m in 2023, according to NIQ, stealing share from many rivals.

In June, Spanish beer brand Estrella showcased a campaign blasting “big British-brewed brands masquerading as Spanish beers”.

The campaign features digital displays in targeted locations with the “[rais]ing awareness of our true Spanish roots and authenticity”. Showcased across out-of-home, national radio and social media, “Spanish not Span-‘ish’” and “don’t fall for fake brews”.

Estrella Galicia’s CEO Aitor de Artaza called out Madrí. “There is a lack of transparency because they use a big famous city in Spain, but they don’t produce here. This is confusing for the consumer,’ he told the Telegraph.

However, Molson Coors has since claimed that it was created in collaboration with another brand in its portfolio, Spanish craft brewer La Sagra.

Lidl came under fire late last year after a complaint by The Real Bread Campaign accused it of misleading consumers over its “sourdough rye” loaf.

The grocer was forced to change the name of its sourdough crusty rye bloomer, after a shopper pointed out the product was mainly made from wheat flour (56%) with baker’s yeast.

The Advertising Standards Authority ruled there was that there was no breach of rules from Lidl as there is currently no “fixed legal definition of sourdough bread in the UK”.

However, The Real Bread Campaign group took the complaint to the trading standards department of the London Borough of Bexley to force the discounter to take action.

Its not the only bread-related faux-pas made by grocery giants in recent years. In June, Sainsbury’s, Lidl, Co-op and Tesco were all accused of alleged “misleading” bakery marketing claims and breaches of consumer protection regulations by food alliance and campaigners, Sustain.

The allegations revolved around the supermarket’s using signs suggesting their baked goods were “freshly made every day” and “freshly baked bread”, which the campaigners claimed they were not.

Tesco Boswell range – one of the ranges accused of being “fake”

In 2017, grocery retailers Tesco, Aldi, Asda and Lidl were accused on using “fake farm” branding on their own-brand meat products and being “disingenuous” towards consumers.

Food charity Feedback threatened Tesco with legal proceedings if it didn’t drop its “fake” Woodside Farms name, which it began using on its value Pork range in 2016.

The charity backed the owner of a genuine farm called Woodside Farm and threatened legal proceedings if the retail giant did not drop the brand name.

Alongside Woodside Farms and fellow range Boswell Farms, the grocer was accused of having seven value ranges with British-sounding ‘fictious’ names which sounded local to customers, but were actually imported from abroad.

Alongside Tesco, Asda came under fire for a similar tactic on its own value ‘Farm Store’ range, Aldi for its ‘Wood Farm’ line, Lidl for ‘Birchwood Farm’ and M&S for ‘Scottish Lochmuir’ and ‘Oakham’, none of which are real farms.

Since 2017, it is understood Tesco is still operating a value range under the branding ‘Woodside Farms’, while Aldi also changed its ‘Wood Farm’ brand to ‘Nature’s Pick’. Earlier this year, Lidl was forced to apologise for out-of-date references on its websites to MPs on the government’s Environment, Food & Rural Affairs Committee and assured that it no longer engages with “fake farms”.