LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) – A German company and individual allege that a Corona, California company falsely represented its coconut water products and that the plaintiffs had to issue a recall of the products in Germany.
Patricia Bloch and Farmkind GmbH filed a complaint on Oct. 1 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California against P.S.W. Inc., Taste Nirvana International Inc., Surachai "Jack" Wattanaporn and Does 1-10 alleging fraud in the inducement and other counts.
According to the complaint, beginning in 2013, plaintiffs distributed Taste Nirvana's coconut water products throughout Germany. The plaintiffs allege the defendants advertised the products to be "100 percent pure, contain no added sugar, no added water, and no undisclosed additives."
The suit states in 2018, a competitor of Farmkind "confronted" the plaintiffs with "certified lab results showing Taste Nirvana Products were not 100 percent pure with no added water or sugar as they claim to be. In fact, the test results showed that Taste Nirvana Products contained more than 50 percent added water and 70 percent added sugar." The plaintiffs allege independent tests from two separate labs also confirmed added water and non-fruit sugar.
Farmkind alleges it had to initiate a recall of all Taste Nirvana products and that "costs of the recall were substantial as Farmkind was forced to reimburse its customers, pay freight and shipping costs, and expand warehouse space to store the recalled products," the suit states.
The plaintiff holds P.S.W. Inc., Taste Nirvana International Inc., Wattanaporn and Does 1-10 responsible because the defendants allegedly made false representations regarding the Taste Nirvana products.
The plaintiffs request a trial by jury and seek restitution, disgorgement, refund, and/or other monetary damages, punitive damages, pre- and post-judgment interest, and such other and further relief as the court deems just and proper. They are represented by Leslie G. Williams, Benjamin M. Cutchshaw and Tyler R. Train of Wilson Keadjian Browndorf LLP in Irvine, California.
U.S. District Court for the Central District of California case number 2:18-cv-08463-PLA