The latest chapter in the long-running legal stoush between Bega Cheese and Kraft has ended with the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia upholding the trial judgement that found Bega Cheese has the right to use the trade dress currently associated with its peanut butter products.
It means Bega Cheese has the right to continue to use the current packaging of its Smooth and Crunchy Peanut Butter products.
The clash began in 2017 when Bega purchased the Kraft factory from Mondelez International. As Bega took over the brand, it “slightly refreshed” the packaging as well as adding its logo. At the time Bega said the contents were the same and it had “the same ‘never oily, never dry’ recipe, the same taste, made by the same people, at the same factory”.
At the time, then CEO of Kraft Heinz Australia Bruno Lino told Food & Drink Business: “The future of the Kraft brand has never been in doubt.
“A series of historical corporate decisions saw the brand licensed to an external company for a limited period of time under strict conditions.
“It has always been our intention to continue with Kraft products in Australia. Kraft Singles will appear on supermarket shelves shortly and Kraft Peanut Butter in the New Year; both of which will be manufactured locally.”
A Bega Cheese spokesperson said the company had purchased the original 'never oily, never dry' recipe, as well as the Victorian factory where the former Kraft Peanut Butter was made for 55 years (Food & Drink Business 25/10/2017).
Executive chair Barry Irvine told the ABC: “We’d always argued that we'd actually done appropriate due diligence in purchasing the business and the associated trade dress when it came to peanut butter. Now we've had two courts confirm that position, so we're very pleased.”
In a statement to the ASX, the company said: “Bega Cheese looks forward to continuing to produce and supply our customers with our much-loved peanut butter products.”
Bega Cheese was #25 on Food & Drink Business' Australia's Top 100 Food & Drink Companies 2019 Report.
