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Kroger coffee creamer class action overview:
- Who: A consumer sued The Kroger Co. over its coffee creamer products.
- Why: The plaintiff says the product is deceptively marketed to suggest it contains milk yet allegedly includes barely any milk products.
- Where: The Kroger class action was filed in an Illinois federal court.
The Kroger Co. deceives customers into thinking some of its coffee creamer products contain milk when the main ingredients are water, sugar and soybean oil, a new class action lawsuit alleges.
Plaintiff Stacy Sumner filed the class action complaint against The Kroger Co. on Aug. 21 in an Illinois federal court, alleging violations of state and federal consumer laws.
The Kroger Co. makes and sells coffee whitener identified as a coffee creamer that has been “ultra-pasteurized” under the Kroger brand, she alleges.
Sumner claims consumers have long associated pasteurization with dairy beverages, and that by representing the product as a “Coffee Creamer” that has been “Ultra- Pasteurized,” without any “Non-Dairy” statement, consumers expect dairy ingredients.
Despite the milk-adjacent statements, the product lacks cream and other dairy ingredients beyond a minimal amount of sodium caseinate, a milk derivative, the Kroger coffee creamer class action alleges.
Kroger coffee creamer made mostly of water, sugar, soybean oil, class action alleges
In place of cream, the product substitutes water and soybean oil, the first and third ingredients, to reduce costs, the Kroger class action claims. The second ingredient is sugar.
“By identifying the Product as ‘Coffee Creamer’ that ‘has been ultra-pasteurized,’ consumers will expect dairy cream,” the lawsuit states.
Competitor products that contain the same ingredients as the product are identified prominently as “Non-Dairy Coffee Creamer” and not described as having been pasteurized, according to the lawsuit.
“Defendant sold more of the Product and at higher prices than it would have in the absence of this misconduct, resulting in additional profits at the expense of consumers,” the Kroger class action states.
Sumner seeks to represent a class of consumers who bought the product in Illinois and a multistate consumer class from South Dakota, Texas, Alabama, Tennessee, West Virginia, Mississippi, Wyoming, Utah, Nebraska, Kansas, Alaska and Idaho.
She’s suing under state consumer laws and for breach of warranty, negligent misrepresentation, fraud and unjust enrichment. Sumner seeks certification of the class action, an injunction, damages, fees, costs and a jury trial.
In related news, last month Walmart was hit with a class action lawsuit alleging it markets one of its Great Value products as a “coffee creamer” when it does not contain enough milk product to be a creamer and is instead a “whitener.”
Also last month, a federal judge in California declined to dismiss a class action lawsuit accusing Whole Foods of tricking its customers into believing that its 365 Everyday Value brand coffee creamer contains natural vanilla flavoring.
What do you think about the allegations about the Kroger coffee creamer? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
The plaintiff is represented by Spencer Sheehan of Sheehan & Associates.
The Kroger class action lawsuit is Stacy Summer v. The Kroger Co., Case No. 3:22-cv-01950, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois.
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33 thoughts onKroger class action claims retailer falsely advertises coffee creamer as it contain minimal dairy
This my very favorite coffee creamer and I don’t support this complaint. Just get the darn thing settled so the creamer can return to market.