Grove Square Coffee Pod Class Action Settlement Reached

A settlement has been reached between customers and the makers of Grove Square coffee pods — Sturm Foods Inc. and its parent company TreeHouse Foods Inc.

This proposed settlement deal would end class action claims that the companies falsely advertise that their single-serve coffee pods brew fresh rather than instant coffee.

Details of the proposed settlement deal are not yet available, but if the deal is approved, it will mark an end to more than eight years of litigation in the single-serve coffee class action lawsuit.

The settlement deal was reached the day before the Grove Square single-serve coffee pods class action lawsuit was set to go to trial.

The Grove Square coffee class action lawsuit was filed in August 2011 by Illinois resident Linda Suchanek.

She claimed that the Grove Square coffee pods were marketed towards owners of the Keurig machine, and work exactly like the popular K-cups.

However, the Grove Square class action claimed the single-serve coffee pods were marketed “to look exactly like the product the consumer wanted,” but was not what customers looked for in such a product.

Suchanek argued that whereas K-cups dispense freshly brewed, regular coffee, the Grove Square coffee pods dispense instant coffee.

The Grove Square coffee class action claimed that Sturm Foods and TreeHouse Foods violated false advertising and deceptive trade statutes in a number of states.

The plaintiff sought to represent consumers from Alabama, California, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, New Jersey, Illinois, and New York.

The Grove Square coffee class action lawsuit was dismissed in 2013, when a district judge determined that Suchanek had not shown that she was deceived or injured by the representations. However, the decision to dismiss the single-serve coffee claims was later reversed by the Seventh Circuit.

As litigation continued, both Suchanek and Sturm attempted to have the others’ experts, who were to speak to the issue of damages, disqualified. Both of these attempts were denied by an Illinois federal judge.

In their trial brief for the Grove Square class action lawsuit, Sturm argued that neither the packaging of the original version of the product, nor the modified packagings, contained false information.

Allegedly, the first version advertised the coffee as “soluble & microground,” and the revised packaging advertised the product as “instant & microground.”

Top Class Actions will post updates to this class action settlement as they become available. For the latest updates, keep checking TopClassActions.com or sign up for our free newsletter. You can also receive notifications when this article is updated by using your free Top Class Actions account and clicking the “Follow Article” button at the top of the post.

Suchanek is represented by Randy L. Gori, Chelsea L. Fisher, D. Todd Matthews, and Megan M. Arvola of Gori Julian & Associates PC, Peter H. Burke of Burke Harvey LLC, David M. Rosenburg-Wohl of Hershenson Rosenberg-Wohl.

The Grove Square Single-Serve Coffee Pod False Advertising Class Action Lawsuit is Linda Suchanek, et al. v. Sturm Foods Inc., et al., Case No. 3:11-cv-00565, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois.

UPDATE: August 2019, a website has been established to inform consumers of their rights and options under a class action lawsuit that accuses Grove Square Coffee of using instant grounds in their single Keurig-style cups.

UPDATE 2: December 2019, the Grove Square Coffee class action settlement is now open. Click here to file a claim.

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