In a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court Southern District of California, the plaintiff alleges unlawful, unfair, and deceptive business practices in violation of California law because the defendant, Folger Coffee Company (“Folgers”), “willfully misrepresents and omits from its labeling of the Coffee Products material information to consumers’ purchasing decision” through the number of coffee servings that each coffee Product will produce.  The plaintiff seeks to represent a California class of individuals who purchased a Folgers product that advertised an incorrect number of servings and did not receive a refund.

In the complaint, plaintiff alleges that Folgers engaged in a “classic bait-and-switch scheme that causes unsuspecting consumers to spend more money for less than the advertised amount of coffee they believe they are purchasing.”  Plaintiff claims that the packaging and labeling of many Folgers coffee product cannisters prominently advertise that they will produce an amount of six fluid ounce cups when, they do not, and the “label’s advertised cup yield is completely arbitrary.”

Folgers products that purportedly mislead consumers include its Colombian, Brazilian, house blend, classic roast, decaf and breakfast blends, among others.  The plaintiff added that the defendant prominently advertised on its front label that it “Makes up to 210 6 Fl oz Cups.”  However, plaintiff claims that when he followed the instructions on the back panel of the coffee canister, the cannister only produced approximately 156 six fluid-ounce servings, which is 54 short of what is advertised on the front panel.  The plaintiff also claims that the same cannister also comes up short if the coffee is brewed in bulk.