Anheuser-Busch Denies Leffe Beer Class Action Claims

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Anheuser-Busch has asked a Florida federal court to dismiss a proposed class action lawsuit alleging that its Leffe beer brand labeling is misleading and deceptive, arguing that there is no legal or factual basis for the plaintiff’s claims.

Leffe beer is brewed primarily at the Stella Artois Brewery in Belgium. According to Anheuser-Busch, Leffe beer is brewed under an agreement with the Abbaye Notre-Dame de Leffe and they meet the strict Union of Belgian Brewers’ criteria for certifying Leffe beer as a Belgian Abbey beer.

In its 34-page response to the plaintiff’s complaint, Anheuser-Busch admits that the packaging for Leffe beer six-packs contains wording including “Abbey Ale” and a picture depicting the Abbaye Notre-Dame de Leffe, it denies allegations that this signifies that the beer is made by actual Belgian monks at the noted abbey.

Plaintiff Henry Vazquez leads the proposed class action lawsuit against Anheuser-Busch filed in April in Miami federal court, alleging that deceptive packaging on its Leffe brand beer led him to believe it was brewed in a Belgian abbey.

Vazquez also claims Anheuser-Busch’s deceptive packaging caused him to overpay for Leffe beer brands, including Leffe Blonde and Leffe Brune.

Vazquez is no stranger to this process. Last year, he successfully filed a class action lawsuit against Anheuser-Busch over the Beck’s beer packaging. In last year’s claim he contended the world’s largest brewery was misleading Beck’s drinkers into paying a premium for German brewed beer. Beck’s is actually brewed in St. Louis, Missouri, with United States water.

As for Leffe beer, this new class action lawsuit asserts that Anheuser-Busch misleads consumers by touting Leffe beer as a premium product first “brewed and perfected by Belgian monks” in 1240, sustained through “750 years of Belgian tradition,” and depicting the bell tower of an abbey on the label.

The lawsuit said that unlike other Belgian beers such as Chimay, Leffe beer has not been brewed at an abbey since the Abbaye de Leffe was destroyed in the French Revolution in around 1794.

According to the lawsuit, the Leffe beer label makes no mention of Stella Artois, including the plant in Leuven, Belgium, where it is produced, and which has a brewing capacity of about 238 million gallons a year.

Anheuser-Busch argues that Vazquez’ claims should be barred in whole or in part because the company’s marketing materials and labeling with respect to Leffe beer are not false or misleading and “constitute protected commercial speech under the applicable provisions of the United States Constitution, the Florida Constitution, and any other applicable state constitutions.”

The lawsuit seeks class action status for consumers nationwide and in Florida who bought Leffe within the last four years. It seeks compensatory and punitive damages, and a formal declaration that Leffe is not made in an abbey or by monks.

Vazquez is represented by Ervin Amado Gonzalez and Natalie M. Rico of Colson Hicks Eidson.

The Anheuser-Busch Leffe Beer Class Action Lawsuit is Vazquez v. Anheuser-Busch Companies LLC, Case No. 16-cv-21181-UU, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

UPDATE: On Aug. 15, 2016, Anheuser-Busch argued Vazquez’s bid for class certification is unsupported by any evidence. 

UPDATE 2: On Sept. 16, 2016, Vazquez is challenging an attempt by Anheuser-Busch Companies LLC to dismiss a class action lawsuit that accuses the company of misrepresenting the origin of its Leffe “abbey ale.”