Lucky Star owner Oceana Group has distanced itself from counterfeit canned pilchards discovered during a police raid in Daleside, Gauteng, last week.
In a statement on Tuesday, the group said investigations had confirmed the cans were counterfeit and were not affiliated with Lucky Star.
“Lucky Star would like to rectify misleading information regarding counterfeit canned pilchards seized in Daveton during a police raid. Our investigators and third-party experts have categorically confirmed this is not our product. The labels are counterfeit and we do not use ring-pull lids on our canned pilchards,” the group said.
The raid, conducted by the SA Police Service, uncovered counterfeit Lucky Star pilchards cans and printing equipment used to alter expiration dates. All equipment and products were confiscated during the operation.
It is believed the cans were relabelled with fake 2026 expiration dates and repackaged in Woolworths cartons. Seven illegal immigrants were arrested; however, the owner remains at large.
Oceana said the counterfeit pilchards appeared to have originated from an international manufacturer supplying Woolworths. According to the group, Woolworths rejected the shipment after it failed quality control checks and asked the supplier to retrieve it. However, some of the rejected stock seems to have been intercepted, illegally rebranded as Lucky Star, and packed into Woolworths-branded cartons.
Woolworths confirmed it had launched its own investigation.
The retailer reiterated that customer safety was its priority and reminded consumers to purchase Woolworths-labelled products only from authorised stores or online channels.
“In the event of a product being rejected, it becomes the immediate responsibility of the supplier to collect and dispose of the stock from our warehouse responsibly. We have launched our own investigation to determine why this process was not adhered to in this instance,” it said.
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