And while Brandless made a big deal out of the concept of a “brand tax” — the idea that products from other brands cost more because they have middlemen or other distribution costs — we now know the real story is that direct to consumer e-commerce brands have their own high costs, from engineering talent to online marketing.

ALDI now focuses on premium products with natural ingredients at an affordable price for the middle-income group. Brandless’ thesis is ALDI’s playbook. But ALDI mastered the cost structure that is needed to make the model work. Brandless kicked the problem down the road with SoftBank’s money.