Kona coffee dispute prompts class-action lawsuit

Recent Cases

A spat involving Safeway and Hawaii coffee growers is still brewing, even after the supermarket giant agreed to change labeling on its Kona blend coffee.

A $5 million class-action lawsuit was filed in federal court in Northern California claiming Safeway profited off the reputation of Kona coffee while selling an inferior product with very little Hawaii-grown coffee.

The lawsuit was filed Aug. 30, a day before Safeway's letter informing the Kona Coffee Farmers Association the company would change its packaging to reflect the percentage of Kona it contains. The farmers had called for a boycott of Safeway's 1,700 stores nationwide after a farmer saw the Kona blend for sale in a California store.

In an effort to protect a world-famous Hawaii product, the state's Board of Agriculture Chairman Russell Kokubun sent a letter to Safeway officials asking them to comply with a law here requiring labels to specify the percentage of Hawaii-grown coffee included in the blend. The law requires those blends have at least 10 percent Hawaii-grown coffee. But because Safeway's Kona blend isn't sold in any of the 19 Hawaii locations, Kokubun could only ask for voluntary compliance.



Related listings

  • 1 spank isn't domestic violence, Fla. court says

    1 spank isn't domestic violence, Fla. court says

    Recent Cases 09/15/2011

    An appeals court says a single spank doesn't qualify as domestic violence. A three-judge panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal on Friday quashed an injunction for protection against domestic violence. It cited common law and a 2002 Florida Suprem...

  • Class Action Filed Against Former, Current A&P Execs

    Class Action Filed Against Former, Current A&P Execs

    Recent Cases 09/13/2011

    A class action has been filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey on behalf of purchasers of the securities of the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. Inc. (A&P) for the period between July 23, 2009, and Dec. 10, 2010. The ...

  • Court: Samsung can't sell tablet in Germany

    Court: Samsung can't sell tablet in Germany

    Recent Cases 09/09/2011

    A German court rules that Samsung Electronics's Galaxy Tab cannot be sold in Germany because it violated patents of rival Apple's iPad2. A Duesseldorf state court said Friday it would not allow Samsung, based in Seoul, South Korea, to market its Gala...

Forte Law Group is a trusted resource to protect your child’s needs.

Based on the culmination of ongoing state, municipal and board of education budget cuts, coupled with school districts having to do more with less resources, the current climate within schools often dictates that you may require a special education attorney to achieve the best results when advocating for your child’s right to a free appropriate public education. Coupled with increasing class sizes, your child may slip through the cracks within the school system itself and not be receiving an appropriate education with measurable goals and objectives.

A Connecticut Special Education Attorney Knows the Law

Often is the situation that there already exists a high level of frustration and contention between the family and school when special education and related services are not being appropriately delivered. Many times, the relationship between family and school results in an adversarial environment that is not conducive towards a team approach for the benefit of your child’s needs.

Business News

New York Adoption and Family Law Attorneys Our attorneys have represented adoptive parents, birth parents, and adoption agencies. >> read
DuPage IL worker's comp lawyers Since 1962, the law firm of Krol, Bongiorno & Given, Ltd. has been a leader in the field of workers’ compensation law in DuPage, Illinois. >> read