(Trinidad Guardian) A class-action suit has been filed against the manufacturers of Red Stripe beer in the United States, for allegedly deceiving consumers into thinking the beverage is made in Jamaica.
Two people represented by the law firm of Robbins Arroyo filed the suit last Wednesday in federal court in California against Diageo, the makers of Red Stripe, historically a Jamaican beer.
They claim Diageo committed unfair and deceptive practices and have been unjustly enriched by marketing and selling beer in a way that misleads consumers into believing that its Red Stripe is still being imported from Jamaica.
In 2012, Diageo moved its production of US supplies of Red Stripe from Kingston, Jamaica to Latrobe, Pennsylvania.
The label on the bottle of US supplies states that the beer is produced in Latrobe.
But Arroyo’s clients say it’s in obscure white text and not easily noticed by consumers.
According to the court documents, Red Stripe’s packaging claims that it is a ‘Jamaican Style Lager’ that contains ‘The Taste of Jamaica’ and the packaging contains the distinctive logo of Desnoes and Geddes Limited.
Desnoes and Geddes is a Jamaican brewery.
The plaintiffs further charge that Red Stripe is sold at substantially higher prices than domestic beer, despite the fact that it is brewed in the US with domestic ingredients.
The lawsuit comes on the heels of the world’s largest brewer, Anheuser-Busch InBev reaching a preliminary settlement with a group of consumers who said the company misled them into thinking that Beck’s beer was German brewed.
