When you’re selling a product, the last thing you want is for someone to rip you off. A pickle company found itself in a literal pickle upon being sued by a rival company claiming it stole a 100-year-old recipe to make products sold at Whole Foods.
Grillo’s Pickles, based out of Boston, Massachusetts, has filed a second lawsuit against New Jersey’s Patriot Pickle products, which is sold under the Whole Foods 365 label. Grillo’s is accusing them of using its proprietary recipe in products being sold across the U.S. at Whole Foods locations.
“Patriot Pickle is trying to profit off of Grillo’s 100-year-old family recipe and our trade secrets,” company president Adam Kaufman said in a statement.
“It’s a massive violation of trust and a disappointment that after nearly a decade of partnership, our former co-packer, Patriot Pickle, has violated our agreements and is producing a nearly identical line of pickles for one of our biggest retailers, threatening to permanently damage our business.”
It’s been reported that Patriot Pickle introduced its 365 product at a lower price to sell at Whole Foods during the busiest time of year for pickle sales. To make matters worse, Grillo’s Pickles are also sold at the popular grocery chain.
“The filing points to Patriot Pickle’s access to Grillo’s proprietary recipes and equipment, use of identical ingredients, and organic acid profile tests as proof of Patriot’s use and disclosure of Grillo’s trade secrets, in violation of the Defend Trade Secrets Act, the Florida Uniform Trade Secrets Act, and contracts between Grillo’s and Patriot,” the company said.
It sounds like it’s going to take quite a bit of juice to get out of this pickle.