MONROE - Colony Brands is suing a longtime supplier of fruit after a contaminated batch of cherries led the retailer to stall production and trash more than 50,000 pounds of its signature fruitcake earlier this year.
Colony Brands has worked with the Portland, Ore.-based Gray & Company for more than 25 years, so the conflict over a fruit contract "was quite a surprise to us," said John Baumann, president and CEO of the Monroe-based retailer.
In Baumann's memory, this is "probably the most significant" case of product contamination in the company's history.
"As far as we know, this is the first time this has happened," he said.
The trashed fruitcakes are being held as evidence in the case. Visually, the amount equals about 20,000 stacked shoe boxes, Baumann said.
Fruitcakes are one of Colony Brand's most popular sellers, and production begins in the first quarter to meet Christmastime demand at the end of the year.
According to court records filed last week, Colony Brands spent more than $120,000 on fruit orders to Gray last November and December and was using the fruit in production by January.
In March, Colony Brands discovered the cherries Gray delivered "contained hard and sharp pieces of plastic," apparently refuse from plastic totes used during cherry production at a facility in Hart, Mich.
"Due to the defective cherries, Colony had to cease fruitcake production," according to the lawsuit filed June 24. "At the time, Colony already had over 52,000 pounds of finished fruitcake which incorporated the defective cherries from Gray."
Colony Brands tried to find a way to screen for plastic in the fruitcakes but found no reliable way to test their safety and ultimately decided its fruitcake inventory could not be sold or otherwise used, a loss of $315,893.
At first, the lawsuit contends, Gray & Company agreed to work with Colony Brands to replace the contaminated cherries, then it balked and asked Colony to meet "new, restrictive terms."
"Gray has abandoned Colony without a supplier at a critical point," the brief reads. "Due to Gray's last-minute refusal to live up to its obligations and attempt to impose new terms that have never been part of any contracts between the parties during the past 25-plus years, Gray has left Colony with no fruit supplier."
Since the brief's filing, Colony has found a new supplier, Baumann said.
Now, his company is seeking to recoup the money lost during the ordeal, including lost profits, employee labor and "damage to reputation and goodwill."
"We just want to be made whole on this," he said. He added, "We want our customers to know, you're getting the most high quality products."
Colony Brands has worked with the Portland, Ore.-based Gray & Company for more than 25 years, so the conflict over a fruit contract "was quite a surprise to us," said John Baumann, president and CEO of the Monroe-based retailer.
In Baumann's memory, this is "probably the most significant" case of product contamination in the company's history.
"As far as we know, this is the first time this has happened," he said.
The trashed fruitcakes are being held as evidence in the case. Visually, the amount equals about 20,000 stacked shoe boxes, Baumann said.
Fruitcakes are one of Colony Brand's most popular sellers, and production begins in the first quarter to meet Christmastime demand at the end of the year.
According to court records filed last week, Colony Brands spent more than $120,000 on fruit orders to Gray last November and December and was using the fruit in production by January.
In March, Colony Brands discovered the cherries Gray delivered "contained hard and sharp pieces of plastic," apparently refuse from plastic totes used during cherry production at a facility in Hart, Mich.
"Due to the defective cherries, Colony had to cease fruitcake production," according to the lawsuit filed June 24. "At the time, Colony already had over 52,000 pounds of finished fruitcake which incorporated the defective cherries from Gray."
Colony Brands tried to find a way to screen for plastic in the fruitcakes but found no reliable way to test their safety and ultimately decided its fruitcake inventory could not be sold or otherwise used, a loss of $315,893.
At first, the lawsuit contends, Gray & Company agreed to work with Colony Brands to replace the contaminated cherries, then it balked and asked Colony to meet "new, restrictive terms."
"Gray has abandoned Colony without a supplier at a critical point," the brief reads. "Due to Gray's last-minute refusal to live up to its obligations and attempt to impose new terms that have never been part of any contracts between the parties during the past 25-plus years, Gray has left Colony with no fruit supplier."
Since the brief's filing, Colony has found a new supplier, Baumann said.
Now, his company is seeking to recoup the money lost during the ordeal, including lost profits, employee labor and "damage to reputation and goodwill."
"We just want to be made whole on this," he said. He added, "We want our customers to know, you're getting the most high quality products."