Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. filed a lawsuit on yesterday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts for violations of federal and state law by Decas Cranberry Sales, Inc. and related companies, as well as several unnamed cranberry growers and handlers. The suit alleges that the defendants orchestrated a deceitful campaign falsely accusing Ocean Spray of violating the law and harming the cranberry industry.
The complaint states that the defendants joined together in promoting a smear campaign against Ocean Spray that included soliciting cranberry growers (including Ocean Spray's grower-owners) not to work with Ocean Spray, soliciting cranberry growers (including Ocean Spray's grower-owners) to join an intended lawsuit against Ocean Spray by falsely claiming that Ocean Spray is violating federal law, including the federal
antitrust laws.
The Complaint also alleges that Decas Cranberry, Ocean Spray's direct competitor, has used a variety of additional deceptive tactics and media for Decas' disinformation campaign, including widely distributed letters and emails to growers, internet blogs and websites, Facebook accounts, YouTube videos and Twitter postings that Decas fraudulently led consumers to believe emanated from an independent non-profit consumer advocacy group, rather than from Decas Cranberry itself.
Ocean Spray is an agricultural cooperative owned by 650 cranberry growers in Massachusetts, Wisconsin, New Jersey, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, and other parts of Canada as well as approximately 50 Florida grapefruit growers. The company was formed 80 years ago by three cranberry growers from Massachusetts and New Jersey with Florida grapefruit growers joined the Cooperative in 1976.
Ocean Spray is North America's leading producer of shelf-stable juice drinks, and has been the best-selling brand name in that category since 1981. Ocean Spray posted gross sales of $2 billion in 2009 and recently launched a line of blueberry flavored drink products.
The suit cites the defendants on eight counts of violations of the Agricultural Fair Practices Act, 7 U.S.C. section 2301; Section 43(a) of the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. section 1125(a); and the Massachusetts Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act, Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 93A, sections 2, 11.
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