Danone has filed a federal lawsuit in Manhattan against Chobani, accusing the U.S. yogurt maker of misleading consumers about the protein content of its high-protein products. The case, filed on Monday, centers on Chobani 20G Protein packaging, which Danone says positions Chobani as a direct rival to its own Oikos high-protein yogurt line.
According to Danone, Chobani inflates the protein claim on the front of the package in a way that makes product comparisons harder for shoppers and allows Chobani to advertise a lower price while implying its yogurt contains the same amount of protein as Danone's products. Danone said consumers should be able to compare products using information that is, in its words, “clear, accurate and consistent.” It also argued that Chobani's labeling on multi-serve containers enlarges the serving size in a misleading way and undermines an “accurate comparison.”
Chobani rejected the allegations. Chief executive Hamdi Ulukaya told Reuters that Danone was “throwing things in the air” to generate negative headlines about the company, which he founded in 2007. “In some sense, it makes me a little laugh. We never add external protein to our products. We will never mislead anyone,” he said.
The lawsuit comes amid intensifying competition in the U.S. protein foods market, especially high-protein yogurt. Reuters reported that consumer research in the United States has shown rising demand in recent years, in part from people taking GLP-1 weight-loss drugs and trying to prevent muscle loss while losing weight. Danone itself has struggled to keep up with the surging demand for these products.
