After Beck’s: AB-InBev now accused of mislabelling Leffe
There must be something in the beer, or why do U.S. beer drinkers tend to drag AB-InBev to court? The most recent plaintiff is Henry Vazquez, an optometrist who said that AB-InBev’s deceptive packaging caused him to overpay for Leffe beer.
He argues that he was fooled into believing that Leffe was brewed in a Belgian abbey, rather than in a 9 million hl brewery in Leuven, where AB-InBev also produces Stella Artois.
The proposed class-action lawsuit was filed on 1 April 2016 in the Miami federal court - the same court where AB-InBev last year reached a more than USD 20-million settlement with U.S. drinkers of Beck’s, who had said that the company was passing the beer off as “German” though it was made in St. Louis.
Mr Vazquez claims that AB-InBev misleads consumers by touting Leffe as a premium product first “brewed and perfected by Belgian monks” in 1240, sustained through “750 years of Belgian tradition” and depicting the bell tower of an abbey on the label.
The lawsuit says that, unlike other Belgian abbey beers such as Chimay, Leffe has not been brewed at an abbey since the Abbaye de Leffe was destroyed in the French Revolution in around 1794.
Had Mr Vazquez bothered to check Leffe’s website he would have found the following: “the abbey was re-established in 1929. In 1952 abbot Nys and Albert Lootvoet decided to once again take up the brewing tradition of Leffe with its well-guarded recipe and offer a range of delicious Leffe beers. In the meantime, AB-InBev has taken up the torch and has made a commitment to honour the tradition of the Leffe beer, which has been brewed according to the same recipe since 1240.”
Anyone with a fair command of English will be able to see that no claim is being made that there is an actual Leffe abbey brewery. AB-InBev, as the owner of the Leffe brand, merely acknowledges that it is brewing the beer according to a 1240 recipe.
That’s why I don’t understand how Natalie Rico, a lawyer for Mr Vazquez, could tell U.S. media that “consumers believe they are buying something that is [in] limited quantity and very high quality.” She insists that this “is not the case.”
How can she arrive at such a flawed conclusion? Of course, Leffe is a limited quantity brand compared with say Bud, Budweiser and Brahma. But why being brewed by AB-InBev should make Leffe a beer of lower quality per se, beats me.
The lawsuit seeks class action status for consumers nationwide and in Florida who bought Leffe over the past four years. It seeks compensatory and punitive damages, and a formal declaration that Leffe is not made in an abbey or by monks.
The whole case, which is exquisitely ridiculous were it not such a blatant money spinner for cynical fat cat lawyers, brings to our attention that monastery or abbey products do enjoy high regard among consumers for their superior quality, purity and authenticity. Whether this image is warranted or not is probably heretical to ask.
In any case, Mr Vazquez’ lawsuit can serve as a warning to other brewers with monastery or abbey beer brands in their portfolios not to deliberately obfuscate the beers’ physical origins. Because of the internet consumers have become nosey parkers … and occasionally litigious b*** too.
