Ebin v. Kangadis Food Inc.

297 F.R.D. 561, 87 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 1302, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25838, 2014 WL 737960
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedFebruary 25, 2014
DocketNo. 13 Civ. 2311 (JSR)
StatusPublished
Cited by56 cases

This text of 297 F.R.D. 561 (Ebin v. Kangadis Food Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ebin v. Kangadis Food Inc., 297 F.R.D. 561, 87 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 1302, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25838, 2014 WL 737960 (S.D.N.Y. 2014).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM

JED S. RAKOFF, District Judge.

Lead plaintiffs Joseph Ebin and Yeruchum Jenkins bring this consumer class action against defendant Kangadis Food Inc., doing business as The Gourmet Factory (“Kangadis”), asserting numerous causes of action for breach of express warranty and breach of the implied warranty of merchantability under New Jersey law, violation of the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act, violation of the New York General Business Law § 349, and fraud and negligent representation under New York and New Jersey law. All of plaintiffs’ claims relate to Kangadis’s alleged practice of selling containers of Capatriti-brand “100% Pure Olive Oil” that actually contain an industrially processed substance known as “olive-pomace oil,” “olive-residue oil,” or “pomace.”

On November 1, 2013, plaintiffs moved pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(b)(3) for certification of a class defined as “all persons in the United States who purchased Capatriti 100% Pure Olive Oil packed before March 1, 2013” (the “Class”). Ebin, who purchased Capatriti 100% Pure Olive Oil at a Key Food store in the Bronx, New York in August 2012, also moved to certify a subclass of class members who purchased in New York (the “New York Subclass”). Deposition of Joseph Ebin (“Ebin Dep.”) at 34:11-19, 36:6-7, Declaration of Joseph Márchese dated November 1, 2013 (“Márchese Deel.”) Ex. B. Jenkins, who purchased Capatriti 100% Pure Olive Oil in January 2013 at a Shop Rite in Nutley, New Jersey, seeks to represent a subclass of Class members who purchased in New Jersey (the “New Jersey Subclass”). Deposition of Yeruchum Jenkins (“Jenkins Dep.”) at 41:17-42:11, 83:11-12, Márchese Deck Ex. A. After full briefing, the Court heard oral argument on Wednesday December 4, 2013, and issued a “bottom line” Order on December 11, 2013 granting plaintiffs’ motion. This Memorandum explains the reasons for that ruling.

The pertinent facts are as follows. Kangadis is a food import and distribution company formed in 2003. Complaint ¶ 10. Since 2006, Kangadis has sold, under the brand name Capatriti, a product labeled “100% Pure Olive Oik” Id. Plaintiffs allege that the oil contained in Capatriti containers is not in fact olive oil, but pomace. Plaintiff Ebin allegedly purchased a 101 fluid ounce container of this product at a local grocery store in Bronx County, New York in “late 2012” for “approximate $16.49.” Id. ¶8. Plaintiff Jenkins also allegedly purchased a container of Capatriti “100% Pure Olive Oil,” though the complaint does not allege in what volume or what price he paid. Id. ¶ 9. The two plaintiffs allegedly saw the labeling of the product, understood it as a representation that the product consisted of 100% pure olive oil, and would not have gone through with their respective purchases if they had known that the product was not 100% pure olive oik The plaintiffs also allegedly “understood that in making the sale, the retailer was acting with the knowledge and approval of [Kangadis] and/or as the agent of [Kangadis].” Id. ¶¶ 8-9.

The complaint references an expert report by Professor Lanfranco Conte, regarding the chemical properties of the product Kangadis sells as “100% Pure Olive Oik” The Conte Report explains that pomace is fundamentally different from what is commonly known as “olive oil.” As Conte explains, what consumers generally know of as “olive oil” comes from olives that are harvested, quickly carried to a mill, washed, crushed, and spun to separate out excess water. Conte Report ¶¶ 9-14. This process is entirely mechanical, and involves no heat or chemicals. Id. ¶ 12. The product resulting from this process is commonly called “virgin olive oik” Id. ¶¶ 15-[565]*56517. If “virgin olive oil” undergoes refining to remove impurities, then it is no longer called “virgin,” but remains “olive oil.” Pomace, by contrast, is made from the residue materials left over after all of the olive oil has been mechanically extracted from the flesh of the olives. Leftover skins and olive pits are sent to specialized facilities where they undergo superheating, bleaching, deodorizing, steaming, and treatment with industrial solvents. Id. ¶¶ 22, 39-40. To be made fit for human consumption, the resulting liquid must be refined to remove the solvents. Id. 121. Pomace’s different production process makes it significantly cheaper than what is traditionally known as olive oil. The Conte Report represents that pomace typically sells in bulk quantities for 50% less than bulk refined olive oil, which is cheaper still than bulk virgin olive oil. Conte Report ¶ 24.

To qualify for certification, plaintiffs must demonstrate by a preponderance of the evidence that the putative class action meets each of the four requirements of Rule 23(a) and also satisfies at least one of the categories provided in Rule 23(b). See In re Visa Check/MasterMoney Antitrust Litig., 280 F.3d 124, 132-33 (2d Cir.2001). Rule 23(a) sets forth four prerequisites: numerosity, commonality, typicality, and adequacy. Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(a). The Court is satisfied that these four prerequisites are met. To begin, a presumption of numerosity attaches to classes of more than forty in the Second Circuit. See Consol. Rail Corp. v. Hyde Park, 47 F.3d 473, 473 (2d Cir.1995) (“[N]umerosity is presumed at a level of 40 members”). The Court has already found that the Class exceeds one hundred members in its Memorandum Order on subject matter jurisdiction, noting that “defendant does not contest that this consumer class action involves more than 100 members.” See Memorandum Order, 5/12/13, at 3. In addition, retail sales of Capatriti during the class period were roughly $81.24 million, suggesting more than forty purchasers. Declaration of Colin Weir dated August 26, 2013 (‘Weir Deck”) ¶ 16.

Commonality is met when “there are questions of law or fact common to the class.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(a)(2). The common questions in this ease are whether the pomace packed into Capatriti tins was “100% Pure Olive Oil,” whether Gourmet Factory negligently misrepresented that Capatriti was “100% Pure Olive Oil,” and whether Gourmet Factory defrauded purchasers by labeling Capatriti as “100% Pure Olive Oil.” With respect to the New York subclass, an additional common question is whether Gourmet Factory’s conduct violated New York’s General Business Law § 349. With respect to the New Jersey Subclass, an additional common issue is whether Gourmet Factory breached express warranties, breached the implied warranty of merchantability, and violated the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act, N.J.S.A. §§ 56:8-1, et seq.

Defendant argues that the nature of the claims and the proposed class is so fractured that commonality is not possible. Capatriti was sold in at least five states, and defendant contends that a hodgepodge of standards varying among these states would preclude a common answer to the question of whether the pomace oil in Capatriti tins was 100% Pure Olive Oik Defendant further contends that resolution of issues here will require evaluating millions of individual, unique consumer purchasing decisions at once. These arguments are unpersuasive.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
297 F.R.D. 561, 87 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 1302, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25838, 2014 WL 737960, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ebin-v-kangadis-food-inc-nysd-2014.