Safeway Settles Kona Coffee Blend Class Action Lawsuit

Safeway Settles Kona Coffee Blend Class Action Lawsuit

By Kimberly Mirando

Safeway Inc. has reached a class action lawsuit settlement with consumers who say the grocery chain committed fraud by selling coffee labeled as a Kona blend even though it contained “only a small proportion of Kona beans.”

The class action lawsuit was filed in 2011 by California consumer Chanee Thurston, who claims Safeway falsely advertised that its Safeway Select Kona Blend coffee is primarily composed of Hawaiian-grown Kona beans. Hawaiian law requires that coffee blends advertised as containing Hawaii-grown coffee must have at least 10% of Hawaiian beans to make the labeling claims.

“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.”

Thurston filed the class action lawsuit after Safeway announced it had agreed to include at least 10% Kona beans in its coffee blend and change the label on packages to show what percentage of Kona is included after it received pressure from the Kona Coffee Farmers Association to comply with the law. The group asked consumers to boycott Safeway stores over the labeling matter.

The details of the class action lawsuit settlement have not been disclosed, but Thurston sought over $5 million damages for anyone who purchased Safeway Select Kona Coffee after August 30, 2007, according to the original complaint.

Despite the settling the case, the KCFA announced Monday that the settlement is disappointing because it does not address the legal issues of selling coffee that’s not primarily from Kona as a “Kona blend.”

“Kona coffee growers had hoped that a court decision on the legal issues in the Safeway case would encourage the Hawaii Legislature and the Hawaii attorney general to begin providing the types of protections that, for example, California provides to Napa Valley Wine, Idaho to Idaho Potatoes, and Georgia to Vidalia Onions,” the association’s president Cecelia Smith said in a statement.

“We are disappointed that there was no court decision on the issues presented by this case.”

Keep checking Top Class Actions or sign up for free class action settlement alerts below to receive notification of how to file a claim for the Safeway Select Kona Coffee Class Action Settlement once details are released.

Updated May 1st, 2013

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