Kroger Class Action Says ‘Artisan’ Ice Creams Are Mass Produced

A class action lawsuit recently removed to federal court claims that Kroger’s “Artisan” ice creams are not artisanal at all, and are actually mass produced.

Plaintiff Jennifer O’Neil says Kroger falsely labels a number of its ice creams as artisan in an attempt to entice customers into purchasing the products. 

O’Neil says she bought Kroger ice cream in California within the last four years, relying on the product’s label, that claimed it was “artisan.”

The Kroger ice cream class action claims that the “artisan” label is “front and center, on each and every product packaging as well as on other advertising and promotional material,” including the company’s website, as well as print and digital ads.

According to the Kroger artisan ice cream class action lawsuit, O’Neil viewed the “artisan” label and understood it to mean that the ice cream was produced according to artisan standards. Allegedly, she believed that the ice cream was not mass produced through automated mechanization by a non-specialized producer.

O’Neil argues that in reality, the ice cream is not produced according to artisan standards. “Artisan foods are handcrafted in small batches, to ensure quality control, as opposed to mass production,” the Kroger class action states.

She says that had she known this, she would not have purchased the ice cream or would not have paid as much as she had for it.

The Kroger ice cream class action lawsuit argues that Kroger knew or should have known that calling its ice cream “artisan” amounted to misrepresentation and labeled it as such to entice consumers into purchasing it.

Allegedly, the company knows that many consumers prefer artisan products because they are seen as being of higher quality than mass-produced products, and as a result, many consumers will select artisanal products over other products and are willing to pay more for them.

To support her argument that customers have certain expectations about the nature of a product labeled as “artisan,” O’Neil notes that some countries including Spain, Belgium, and Ireland have a legal definition of the term “artisan” that helps ensure that food information is not misleading, and that customers understand that they are getting food made with certain standards and processes.

The Kroger class action claims the grocery store financially injured consumers as a result of its misrepresentation and that the company has been unjustly enriched as a result.

Allegedly, this misrepresentation resulted in “profits of hundreds of thousands of dollars or more” to the company, “all to the damage and detriment of the consuming public.”

O’Neil is represented by Shireen M. Clarkson, Ryan J. Clarkson, Matthew T. Theriault, and Celine Cohan of Clarkson Law Firm PC.

The Kroger Artisan Ice Cream Class Action Lawsuit is Jennifer O’Neil v. The Kroger Company, Case No. 2:19-cv-04125, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

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