At the start of my bariatric journey, I bought, among other things, a vanilla cappuccino mix from my doctor, manufactured by a company called Health Wise. When I used it all up I wanted to buy some more, but when I attempted to call the company, which I located on line, they said that they do not distribute direct to the public....they only wholesale to the doctors. I thought I would have to find another brand, so I started looking and found one offered by Bariatric Choice called Bari-Wise and ordered two boxes. Guess what? The product is exactly the same, same packaging, same nutrients, etc. What kind of game are these folks playing?

About a week ago, I ordered a product from a company called Diet Direct. Today, I get two separate e-mails from Diet Direct and Bariatric Choice, offering the same product, listing the same subject matter in the e-mail header, everything. Does this mean the competition among bariatric specific companies is being reduced and they are price fixing? Maybe I'm paranoid, but something doesn't smell right here.... I can understand the same product being offered by two or more separate companies in the distribution chain, but these name games seem to me to be an attempt to fool the public. Does anyone else have any input on this?

This is quite common, actually. I believe I read somewhere that there are really only about 3 major manufacturers of laundry detergent. They package the same stuff in different containers, call it a different name and even charge different prices.

There could be other reasons, but often is is an option offered by the wholeseller/producer so that it is more difficult to price compare something. It also keeps people from doing what you did - finding it on your own. Many will continue to pay a doctor, because they can't "find it anywhere else".

The first doc office I visited also sold this stuff and as a matter of principle, I refused to buy it. I didn't care for the commercialism in a doc office. I don't use the powders that much anyway ...so whatever I can get from whole foods is great. Don't want to be annoyed with searching and online ordering etc.

This is very common across all retail products. For example, I heard once that Kirkland Signature (Costco) vodka is basically the same as Grey Goose. Same thing with some store brands vs. name brands of different food items.