Nestle Sues Blue Buffalo
05-09-2014, 02:45 PM
#1
Nontypical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Colville WA USA
Posts: 1,974
Nestle Sues Blue Buffalo
Nestle Purina PetCare Co. filed suit Tuesday against Blue Buffalo Co. Ltd., accusing its competitor of misleading consumers about the ingredients in its dog and cat foods.
The lawsuit accuses Wilton, Connecticut-based Blue Buffalo of false advertising, disparagement and unjust enrichment. It was filed in U.S. District Court in St. Louis, where Purina is based.
Messages seeking comment from Blue Buffalo were not immediately returned.
The pet food industry in recent years has seen a trend toward premium foods, with consumers showing more willingness to spend more on food perceived to be better for their animals. Sales of more expensive brands rose 68 percent from 2002 to 2012, compared with 19 percent for mid-priced brands and 8 percent for economy brands, according to Euromonitor International.
Nestle Purina has been part of the trend, reporting solid growth in its high-end "made with natural ingredients" Beyond line.
Blue Buffalo advertises that its pet foods contain natural ingredients and do not contain chicken or poultry byproduct meals. The company also says the pet foods do not contain corn, wheat or soy — potential allergens for some pets.
The suit claims that testing by an independent lab and funded by Purina showed that several Blue Buffalo products contained "significant" percentages of poultry byproduct meal and corn. The suit also says several products promoted as "grain-free" contain rice hulls.
"Despite Blue Buffalo's massive marketing barrage, Purina has discovered that Blue Buffalo — and not the 'big name' pet food manufacturers Blue Buffalo routinely criticizes in its advertising — is concealing the truth about the ingredients in its products," the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit asks the court to force Blue Buffalo to run corrective advertising to show that its products contain chicken byproducts, and to pay damages to Nestle Purina "for all gains, profits, savings and advantages obtained by Blue Buffalo as a result of its false advertising and unfair competition."
Nestle Purina PetCare is the nation's largest pet food maker. It is a unit of Nestle, the Swiss-based food and drinks company.[/I]
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireS...laims-23605975
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Blue Buffalo response:
Dear Pet Parents,
I’m writing to you about the lawsuit Nestle Purina filed today alleging that Blue Buffalo has lied to you about the ingredients in our pet foods. We categorically deny all of these false allegations and will aggressively defend the integrity of our brand and our products. It is an easy thing to make unsubstantiated claims, put them in a lawsuit and then publish them all over the web to disparage and defame a company. It is quite another thing to prove those allegations.
Please be assured that unlike Nestle Purina:
Blue Buffalo does not use chicken by-product meal or poultry by-product meal in any of our products
Blue Buffalo does not use ground corn in any of our products
Blue Buffalo does not use artificial preservatives in any of our products
We will prove these and other matters in the court with good reliable evidence, and we look forward to disproving the voodoo science that Nestle Purina relied on to support their outrageous allegations.
We’re disappointed to see one of the largest food companies in the world with over $100 billion in sales launching such a baseless lawsuit against a family-run company and attempting to prosecute it on the Internet. In some ways this attack by Nestle Purina is not too surprising, since pet parents have demonstrated their preference by selecting true natural foods like Blue Buffalo instead of the by-product and corn-based pet foods Nestle Purina has been selling for years. In fact, their inability to compete successfully with natural pet foods is the key motivation for this frivolous lawsuit.
My sons and I founded Blue Buffalo with the mission of bringing transparency to pet foods, and made the True Blue Promise to our pet parents. Clearly, some of our major competitors, who have built their business using lower cost ingredients, are upset. We will always stand behind our promise and our products.
We have a saying at Blue Buffalo: “When we’re right, we fight.” We look forward to seeing Nestle Purina in court.
http://www.bluebuffalo.com/news/nestle-purina-response[/QUOTE]
The lawsuit accuses Wilton, Connecticut-based Blue Buffalo of false advertising, disparagement and unjust enrichment. It was filed in U.S. District Court in St. Louis, where Purina is based.
Messages seeking comment from Blue Buffalo were not immediately returned.
The pet food industry in recent years has seen a trend toward premium foods, with consumers showing more willingness to spend more on food perceived to be better for their animals. Sales of more expensive brands rose 68 percent from 2002 to 2012, compared with 19 percent for mid-priced brands and 8 percent for economy brands, according to Euromonitor International.
Nestle Purina has been part of the trend, reporting solid growth in its high-end "made with natural ingredients" Beyond line.
Blue Buffalo advertises that its pet foods contain natural ingredients and do not contain chicken or poultry byproduct meals. The company also says the pet foods do not contain corn, wheat or soy — potential allergens for some pets.
The suit claims that testing by an independent lab and funded by Purina showed that several Blue Buffalo products contained "significant" percentages of poultry byproduct meal and corn. The suit also says several products promoted as "grain-free" contain rice hulls.
"Despite Blue Buffalo's massive marketing barrage, Purina has discovered that Blue Buffalo — and not the 'big name' pet food manufacturers Blue Buffalo routinely criticizes in its advertising — is concealing the truth about the ingredients in its products," the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit asks the court to force Blue Buffalo to run corrective advertising to show that its products contain chicken byproducts, and to pay damages to Nestle Purina "for all gains, profits, savings and advantages obtained by Blue Buffalo as a result of its false advertising and unfair competition."
Nestle Purina PetCare is the nation's largest pet food maker. It is a unit of Nestle, the Swiss-based food and drinks company.[/I]
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireS...laims-23605975
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Blue Buffalo response:
Dear Pet Parents,
I’m writing to you about the lawsuit Nestle Purina filed today alleging that Blue Buffalo has lied to you about the ingredients in our pet foods. We categorically deny all of these false allegations and will aggressively defend the integrity of our brand and our products. It is an easy thing to make unsubstantiated claims, put them in a lawsuit and then publish them all over the web to disparage and defame a company. It is quite another thing to prove those allegations.
Please be assured that unlike Nestle Purina:
Blue Buffalo does not use chicken by-product meal or poultry by-product meal in any of our products
Blue Buffalo does not use ground corn in any of our products
Blue Buffalo does not use artificial preservatives in any of our products
We will prove these and other matters in the court with good reliable evidence, and we look forward to disproving the voodoo science that Nestle Purina relied on to support their outrageous allegations.
We’re disappointed to see one of the largest food companies in the world with over $100 billion in sales launching such a baseless lawsuit against a family-run company and attempting to prosecute it on the Internet. In some ways this attack by Nestle Purina is not too surprising, since pet parents have demonstrated their preference by selecting true natural foods like Blue Buffalo instead of the by-product and corn-based pet foods Nestle Purina has been selling for years. In fact, their inability to compete successfully with natural pet foods is the key motivation for this frivolous lawsuit.
My sons and I founded Blue Buffalo with the mission of bringing transparency to pet foods, and made the True Blue Promise to our pet parents. Clearly, some of our major competitors, who have built their business using lower cost ingredients, are upset. We will always stand behind our promise and our products.
We have a saying at Blue Buffalo: “When we’re right, we fight.” We look forward to seeing Nestle Purina in court.
http://www.bluebuffalo.com/news/nestle-purina-response[/QUOTE]
05-11-2014, 04:41 AM
#2
Super Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 7,437
I have fed Purina for years but as of late I see the quality of the food going down hill! I have been searching for a new brand.
That shredded additive is a massive attempt on marketing.
I always liked the idea that I feed two hot dogs worth of food to my dogs I got only half hot dog back as seen in the kennel. No longer true.
If for one will be watching this closely.
JW
That shredded additive is a massive attempt on marketing.
I always liked the idea that I feed two hot dogs worth of food to my dogs I got only half hot dog back as seen in the kennel. No longer true.
If for one will be watching this closely.
JW
05-11-2014, 08:03 AM
#3
Nontypical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Colville WA USA
Posts: 1,974
I have always been a fan of Eagle Pack Power (30/20).
I still think it's a good food, but I recently switched to Victor - and so far, I VERY impressed with it. Better stools. still nice and shiney coat etc. and energy levels are as good or better than EP. I think the Victor is more biologically available than the EP and that's why lower protein / fat seems to be just fine and dandy.
Price is not the object, but 40 lbs of Victor 26/18 was $33.
For the winter months, I'll go to the Victor 24/20.
I also read that Eagle Pack is going to 30 lb bags very soon.
.
I still think it's a good food, but I recently switched to Victor - and so far, I VERY impressed with it. Better stools. still nice and shiney coat etc. and energy levels are as good or better than EP. I think the Victor is more biologically available than the EP and that's why lower protein / fat seems to be just fine and dandy.
Price is not the object, but 40 lbs of Victor 26/18 was $33.
For the winter months, I'll go to the Victor 24/20.
I also read that Eagle Pack is going to 30 lb bags very soon.
.
