Safeway Select Kona Coffee Class Action Lawsuit

A class action lawsuit filed in federal court claims Safeway (NASDAQ: SWY) falsely advertises that its Safeway Select Kona Blend coffee is primarily composed of Hawaii-grown Kona beans, even though the product contains “only a very small proportion of Kona beans.” The class action lawsuit follows an announcement last month that Safeway has agreed to change the label on packages of its Kona coffee blend in response to pressure from Hawaiian farmers to comply with Hawaii law and provide information about what percentage of the famous bean it contains.

 

The Kona Farmers Association recently called for a boycott of Safeway’s 1,700 stores nationwide because farmers believed the labels of Safeway’s Kona Blend coffee were misleading and degraded the reputation of Kona coffee. In a letter dated August 31, Safeway notified the association and the Hawaii Department of Agriculture that it will modify the package to show what percentage of Kona is included and that it will contain a minimum of 10 percent of Kona beans. Hawaiian law requires that coffee blends advertised as containing Hawaii-grown coffee have at least 10 percent of Hawaii-grown coffee.

 

“Throughout the Class Period, Safeway prominently displayed the moniker ‘Kona Blend’ on the labels of its Kona Blend Coffee, creating the impression that Kona coffee beans comprise all of, or at least a substantial proportion of, the Kona Blend Coffees, in an effort to promote the sale of these products,” the Safeway Select Kona Blend coffee class action lawsuit states. “In labeling, marketing and distributing its Kona Blend Coffees, Defendant had a choice between using additional Kona coffee or disclosing the true amount of Kona coffee in the product in order to avoid misleading consumers. However, it chose neither option, and instead distributed, marketed and sold the Kona Blend Coffee to consumers as containing all, a majority or a substantial proportion of Kona beans, when in fact it contained insignificant amounts of Kona coffee.”

 

The Safeway Select Kona coffee class action lawsuit is brought on behalf of all consumers who, on or after August 30, 2007, purchased Safeway’s Kona Blend Coffee in the United States. It is also seeking to represent a sub-class of consumers who purchased the product in California. 

 

The class action lawsuit is seeking restitution of all monies paid by Class Members for the falsely advertised product, compensatory damages, punitive damages, and more.

 

A copy of the Safeway Select Kona Coffee Class Action Lawsuit can be read here.

 

The case is Chanee Thurston v. Safeway, Inc., Case No. 11-cv-04285, U.S, District Court, Northern District of California.