Milling & Baking News - September 11, 2018 - 12

Business

Payment of $800 million sought
in Oreo-Hydrox legal action
known that they are not, as many use
their power to place their own products in favorable locations in stores
and move competitors in less desirable positions on store shelves," the
complaint said.
Mondelez International had Hydrox sandwich cookies placed away

MONDELEZ INTERNATIONAL AND LEAF BRANDS

NEWPORT BEACH, CALIF. - Leaf
Brands, L.L.C., the maker of Hydrox
cookies, seeks payment of $800 million in damages due to lost sales and
reputation from Mondelez International, Inc., the maker of Oreo cookies, in a Federal Trade Commission
complaint signed Aug. 17 by Ellia
Kassoff, chief executive officer of
Newport Beach-based Leaf Brands.
The complaint alleges Mondelez
International hid Hydrox cookies at
retail outlets and took advantage of
its role as a "category captain" in the
cookie category for retail chains.
A buyer for a large U.S. retail chain
said Mondelez International, East
Hanover, N.J., had the opportunity
to hide Hydrox cookies in stores because of Mondelez's direct-store delivery system, according to the complaint. The retail chain buyer said
Leaf Brands would have to hire an
outside company at its own cost to
monitor all the retail chain's stores
and make certain Hydrox cookies
are not hidden or manipulated to
prevent their sale.
The F.T.C. complaint also said
Mondelez International is a category
captain for some large U.S. retailers. Retail chains may pick a supplier to become the category captain
and assist the chains in determining
where items in the category, such as
the cookie category, are placed on
shelves at stores nationwide.
"Category captains are supposed
to be impartial and fair, but it is well

from all other sandwich cookies and
on the top shelf in the cookie section, according to the F.T.C. complaint. Leaf Brands said customers,
food brokers and employees of Leaf
Brands have verified such actions
through photos placed on the Hydrox Facebook page, e-mails and
phone calls.
A spokesperson for Mondelez International said the company stood
by its Aug. 16 comment: "We have

Consumer Reports offers plaudits
for energy bars with nuts, fruit
YONKERS, N.Y. - Whole foods like
nuts and dried fruit not only provide
a nutritional boost to energy bars.
They also lead to better taste, according to an analysis of 33 bars by Consumer Reports.
Kind Plus Cranberry Almond +
Antioxidants With Macadamia Nuts
received the highest taste score.
Bars with whole foods like nuts and
dried fruit as their main sources of
protein and fiber received higher
nutrition scores than those with
added protein from soy isolates, rice
or peas or with added fiber from
chicory root or corn.
"Adding these ingredients can make
12 / September 11, 2018

Milling & Baking News

a bar seem healthy, but they are
highly processed," said Ellen Klosz,
a nutritionist for Consumer Reports.
"It's better to get your nutrients from

KIND

whole food ingredients because they
also supply a variety of vitamins,
minerals and other healthy compounds."
Six of the 33 bars received a "very
good" rating for nutrition. The highest

not been contacted about this, but
we are confident that this accusation
has no merit. The Oreo brand is an
iconic one, with a proud and rich history of delivering great tasting products and exciting innovations to our
consumers for more than a century.
This focus, and our commitment to
operating with integrity, has made
Oreo America's favorite cookie."
Leaf Brands is accusing Mondelez
International of unlawful monopolization in violation of the Sherman
Act, violations of the Lanham Act,
tortious interference with contract,
tortious interference with prospective advantage, product defamation
and unjust enrichment.
Leaf Brands decided to ask for
$800 million in damages after reviewing a case called Conwood Co.,
L.L.P. v. U.S. Tobacco Co., Mr. Kassoff said.
"The F.T.C. directed us to that
case since it's considered case law
and extremely similar to ours," he
said. "In it, U.S. Tobacco was forced
to pay $1.05 billion plus interest to
Conwood. We believe our damages
are similar."
The cookie competition between
Oreo and Hydrox dates back more
than a century. Hydrox cookies, then
manufactured by Sunshine Biscuits,
made their debut in 1908. Oreos,
then made by the National Biscuit
Co. (Nabisco), followed in 1912.
Keebler purchased Sunshine Biscuits in 1996 and replaced Hydrox
with a reformulated product called
Droxies in 1999. Leaf Brands brought
back the original Hydrox cookies
in 2015. MBN
ranked had few, if any, added sugars.
A nutritious energy bar should have
150 to 200 calories, 3 grams of fiber,
and 3 to 6 grams of protein, according to Consumer Reports.
Added sugars may come in the
form of agave syrup, brown rice syrup, corn syrup, fructose, fruit juice
concentrate, glucose syrup, honey
and tapioca syrup.
"Though some of these may sound
better for you than plain old sugar,
they're all added sugars and should
be kept to a minimum in your diet,"
Ms. Klosz said. "Better to chose a bar
that has only fruit, or if it has added
sugars, they're toward the end of the
ingredients list."
An article on energy bars will appear in the October issue of Consumer
Reports magazine. MBN
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Milling & Baking News - September 11, 2018

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