Lori Lustrin, left, and Melissa Pallett-Vasquez, right, of Bilzin Sumberg. Courtesy photos.

Robert N. Scola, a federal judge in the Southern District of Florida, dismissed a lawsuit and class action certification against All Market Inc. (AMI), the parent company of coconut water manufacturer Vita Coco, which plantiffs claimed had misled the public with Brazil-themed packaging.

Things got hairy for the coconut water manufacturer in April 2016 when plaintiffs Joshua Wasser, Ila Gold and Alyssa Rechtman filed a lawsuit alleging that “Born in Brazil,” a slogan printed on certain containers, was ”deceptive” because many of the company's coconuts came from other countries, including the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Malaysia.

As a result, the “plaintiffs purchased and drank Vita Coco that was not sourced or manufactured in Brazil, and that was made with non-Brazilian coconuts,” the complaint said.

Brazil flag. Royalty free.

Click here to read the complaint

Vita Coco argued that ”Born in Brazil” referred to the birth of the company itself, not the origin of its ingredients.

“Brazil is where the brand and the idea for Vita Coco was born. It quite literally was born on the beaches of Brazil,” said Melissa Pallett-Vasquez, who defended Vita Coco with the help of Lori Lustrin, Raquel M. Fernandez, Jennifer Junger and Jerry Goldsmith of Bilzin Sumberg in Miami.

Scola ruled that the plaintiffs had not proved sufficient “injury” and therefore lacked standing.

“AMI has not forced the plaintiff to buy Vita Coco,” Scola wrote. “If and when the plaintiffs choose to purchase Vita Coco in the future, they will do so with knowledge that the “born in Brazil” slogan does not reflect the location the beverage was manufactured in or sourced from.”

Scola also noted that the plaintiffs didn't supply records or data of any other consumers of Vita Coco, or receipts of their own purchases that would have shown their experiences were “typical of the injuries suffered by other members” of the proposed class action.

Richard I. Segal of Segal Zuckerman in Miami represented the plaintiffs with Philippe Lieberman and Steve I. Silverman of Kluger, Kaplan, Silverman, Katzen & Levine in Miami, neither of whom responded to requests for comment before deadline.

Related story: ”Born in Brazil” Vita Coco Sued Over its Source

According to Pallett-Vasquez, the premise of the lawsuit was “troubling” for Vita Coco.

“The idea that somehow a product from Southeast Asia was 'less than' is absolutely and categorically not correct,” she explained. “They are incredibly proud of the partnership that they have with their farmers in Southeast Asia. It's something they tout very proudly on their website. The suggestion that somehow the company was trying to hide that is just categorically false.”

Vita Coco containers no longer include the slogan due to a rebranding effort that the company said began before the lawsuit.

“There was a move away from having a lot of wording on the packaging,” Pallett-Vasquez said. She also noted that the company had complied with a federal regulation that dictates that country of origin must be clearly marked on packaging.

Map of Brazil. Photo: Timyee/Shutterstock.com.

The plaintiffs also alleged that Vita Coco had used the Brazil link to elevate its prices, and they “would not have paid as much for the product” if they'd known.

“Because of this deception, AMI is able to sell Vita Coco at prices substantially higher than those of other coconut water brands that are manufactured in other parts of the world,” the complaint said.

But Pallett-Vasquez disputed that. “We know that that not only wasn't true before but it's not true today, because even in the absence of that statement on the packaging the pricing continues to be the same.”

The most “surprising” aspects of the case, she added, were “the factual positions” taken by the named plaintiffs.

“In one of the depositions, a woman took everything that was on the package as absolute truth, including a catchy phrase that said, 'More potassium than a banana (don't tell the monkeys),' ” Pallett-Vasquez said. “ I inquired as to whether or not she thought that Vita Coco was asking her to talk to monkeys, or not to tell the monkeys, and she said, 'Yes, I do.' ”

 

Read Judge Robert N. Scola's order: