When 5pm ticked over, Rebekah ‘Bek’ Ziola jumped on the train home from work, picked up her two daughters from primary school and began the mad rush of dinner and bedtime.
While her girls slept, she rolled up her sleeves and began packing orders out of her garage for her small business Milk Addict, which she runs with her good friend Monica.
Selling a variety of high quality children’s toys and tableware, Bek and Monica are proud of their unique Australian designs and first-class materials.
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But the business owners were shattered when they spotted Chinese fashion giants Temu and Shein selling what they have described as replicas of their products.
“The thing is, we can’t do anything about it. They are huge and we… we are not,” Bek tells 7Life of the soul crushing moment.
“But people need to know what they are buying — and they may not be safe.”
Bek and Monica have seen other Aussie businesses being stung by apparent copycat designs on Temu and Shein.
But in Milk Addict’s case, the women are urging consumers to do their research — for the safety of the next generation.
“This isn’t clothes, this is something your child is putting in their mouth,” Bek says.
“Like the teethers that your baby is gnawing on — do you know what they are made of when you are buying from these places?”
After pouring their heart and soul into Milk Addict, the women are at a loss as to how to compete with these fast fashion chains.
With 19,000 followers on Instagram, Milk Addict is a small Australian-owned business packing orders out of their family homes in The Hills district in Sydney’s north-west.
With the business their second job, the women spend weekends and afternoons creating safe, sustainable and functional children’s essentials.
From silicone bowls, plates, cutlery and drinkware, to toys and even clothing, the company was grown by their desire to “do good”.
“We aren’t just another brand on the shelf,” Bek explains.
“We care about the environment, the community, your kids — we have strong core values and ethics.”
Bek and Monica spend upwards of 12 months crafting a unique design for their children’s silicone toys, and their manufacturer Mike works to make a mould.
The trio then strenuously test the items, from extreme temperatures to the overall strength of the product.
The item also has to pass strict safety laws before it can even hit their website.
But Bek said having to tell Mike that multiple products had been apparently replicated by the Chinese brands was especially difficult, and he was just as devastated.
Currently, the woman have identified what they say are five direct copies of Milk Addict designs — three on Temu and two on Shein.
They say those products are the:
- Silicone Bear Bowl for $17.95 (spotted on Temu for $5.98)
- Bear Suction plate, which retails for $22 (on Temu for $7.98)
- Rainbow Teether for $6.50 (Temu’s copycat is $1.76)
- Lion Snack Pod which costs $12.95 (the Shein version is $7.95) and
- Silicone Lion Plate which retails for $22 (on Shein for $11.95).
“They are selling them at less than what it costs us to make the item,” Bek says.
While the pair are well aware of the price discrepancy between Milk Addict and Temu or Shein, they want shoppers to question how companies can afford to sell items that cheaply.
“We know what we are selling,” Bek says.
“Our products are 100 per cent food grade silicone, heavy metal free and approved by European, Australian and American standards.
“This means we do not use any filler ingredients.
“But there is a lack of transparency with Temu. You don’t know what they are made of, and then your child is eating off or chewing them.”
Bek is particularly suspicious about the veracity of Temu’s ‘ingredient’ list, after seeing that its version of the Rainbow Teether is recommended for ages 14+.
With strict laws in Australia surrounding selling items for infants, Bek questions why Temu is advertising items, clearly marketed towards a toddler, with an age bracket of over 14.
In September 2023, The Toy Insider revealed discrepancies between source products and toys from Temu in America.
“It’s likely that the 14+ age recommendation for the fidget toy on Temu is one of the many ways these sellers get around toy safety standards in the US,” the article says.
“ASTM F963-17 is the national safety standard for toys sold in America.
“It covers chemicals and heavy metals, mechanical and physical properties, electrical safety, small parts/choking hazards, and flammability for toys designed for kids under the age of 14.
“The standard helps ensure harmful chemicals and materials like lead paint and BPA plastics stay out of kids’ toys.”
Bek concurs with The Toy Insider’s findings, saying that she believes what Temu doesn’t disclose is a huge “red flag”.
“We lived with Shein and Temu before and we can again,” she says.
“I know the cost between our stuff is very different, but we have full transparency about how our products are made.”
The small business is unable to fund any form of legal battle against the two retail giants.
And, even if it could, the pair doesn’t don’t know if it would be worth it.
But Bek and Monica want to help educate shoppers about where their money is being spent.
The women are urging shoppers to buy quality — and to try to support homegrown businesses whenever they can.
Temu responds
7NEWS.com.au is not suggesting Temu or Shein are not complying with relevant laws.
In a statement to 7NEWS.com.au, Temu said it understood and took seriously the concerns raised by Milk Addict about alleged “replication of their designs on our platform”.
It said it was investigating the claims, and had removed the product listings in question from its website while it did so.
“We take intellectual property protection seriously and are committed to maintaining a fair and legal marketplace for all our users, both sellers and buyers,” Temu’s statement said.
All sellers on the platform were required to agree to strict terms, including lawful business practice, protection of consumers’ legal rights, and adherence to intellectual property laws.
“We have established a robust system dedicated to the protection of intellectual property rights, which includes proactive monitoring and a responsive reporting structure,” the statement said.
“Our team acts swiftly to investigate reports of infringement, and we take decisive actions ranging from the removal of listings to the termination of vendor accounts, based on the severity of the infringement.”
At the time of publishing, Shein had not responded to requests by 7NEWS.com.au for comment.
7NEWS.com.au has not received any monetary benefit from this content.
