Starbucks Cold Brew Concentrate Number of Servings Class Action

Starbucks Corporation is known for its cafes and coffee drinks. In recent years, it has extended its product line to include coffees, ice cream, and bottled drinks sold in stores. This class action takes issue with Starbucks Cold Brew Concentrate products, alleging that that the bottles are underfilled and do not make the number of servings promised.

The class for this action is all people who bought any Starbucks Coffee product falsely advertising the number of servings of coffee that the product would purportedly produce, during the applicable statute of limitations, who have not received a refund or credit for their purchases.

Serving sizes for different kinds of drinks are specified by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Code of Regulations. The complaint reproduces a portion of a serving-size table, listing two items: “Carbonated and noncarbonated beverages, wine coolers, water” and “Coffee or tea, flavored or sweetened.” The serving size for both, including for the coffee or tea drinks when prepared, is 12 fluid ounces or 360 milliliters.

Page 3 of the complaint shows an image of the front of the bottle, which claims to contain eight servings’ worth of coffee concentrate.

But the bottle contains 32 ounces of concentrate, which the complaint says can only produce five servings when the drink is prepared according to the directions to the standard serving size. Also on page 3 is an enlargement of the Nutrition Facts panel, which reads in part, “5 servings per container.”

The problem lies in the fact that Starbucks uses two different serving sizes, the complaint alleges: “Per the instructions located on the side of the bottle, one serving of Starbucks Cold Brew Coffee consists of 4 fluid ounces of the Coffee Products [concentrate] and 4 fluid ounces of water—for a total serving size of 8 fluid ounces.”

However, according to the FDA chart, the serving size for a noncarbonated beverage or coffee drink is supposed to be 12 fluid ounces. An 8-ounce glass of the prepared product would therefore be only two-thirds of a serving, the complaint alleges, and the 32 ounces of the product in the bottle cannot make eight full servings. The complaint says the bottles are therefore underfilled, because they would have to contain 48 ounces to make the promised eight servings.

The complaint alleges that the difference between five and eight servings is 37.5%.

The counts include breach of express and implied warranties, engaging in deceptive acts or practices, and false advertising.

Article Type: Lawsuit
Topic: Consumer
Tags: Deceptive Advertising, Deceptive Labels, Misrepresentation of Number of Servings