State lets Ralph's Grocery off the hook on false ads
State lets Ralph's Grocery off the hook on false ads
The California Department of Food & Agriculture announced Sept. 13 that no further action would be taken against Ralph's Grocery Co. for violations involving the grocery chains alleged false advertising of Mexican-grown grapes as Californian-grown grapes.
The false advertising involved two separate sets of infractions dating back to late June and early July. The state departments general counsel reviewed each set of infractions. Steve Lyle, director of public affairs with CDFA, said that the general counsels investigation found "no basis for referring the case on it ends there.
The standard is to prove the stores did it to intentionally mislead," Mr. Lyle continued, adding that the general counsels determination was that there was no intent to mislead. There was no genuine communications between promotions and operations at Ralphs.
Ralphs Grocery Co., a division of The Kroger Co. in Cincinnati, and two chains it operates had been cited for state violations in stores in California for false advertising. The first set of infractions involved 48 Food 4 Less and Foods Co. stores. The infractions involved advertisements that went out in June 29 store fliers and on the Food 4 Less/Foods Co. web site that showed seedless green grapes selling for 67 cents a pound well below the market for California-grown seedless green grapes.
The recognizable CA Grown license plate logo appeared in the ad and caused an uproar among California table grape growers in the Coachella Valley the launching pad for the several-years-old California Grown campaign of the Buy California program.
Blaine Carian, a grape grower and vice president of Desert Fresh in Coachella, CA, was the first to report the erroneous advertisement. Mr. Carian had seen the ad in a friends flier on June 30.
The second set of infractions was discovered July 6 on ads that came out that day. These infractions involved an ad for all Ralphs stores throughout California for fresh Red Globe grapes at $1.99 a pound. In this instance, a friend of Mr. Carian saw the ad and called him, and once again Mr. Carian alerted state authorities.
After Mr. Carian contacted authorities for the first set of infractions, a spot-check by California Department of Food & Agriculture at five stores including Cathedral City revealed that all had Mexican green seedless grapes on their shelves. Mr. Carian perused the Food 4 Less/Foods Co. web site to see ads on-line and discovered that 48 stores in California and nine in Nevada were on ad for the seedless green grapes wrongfully billed as being grown in California.
Terry ONeil, spokesman for Ralphs, said that the chain is very pleased with the general counsels finding.
It was an honest mistake, Mr. ONeil said. Initially when ads were put together two months in advance, Ralphs intended to use Californian-grown grapes, he said. It became apparent to the chain that it couldnt buy enough California-grown grapes to meet its needs, so it bought from Mexico. The chain inadvertently left California Grown in its advertisements, he said.
Were taking more care to double- or triple-check our ads as a result of the problem, Mr. ONeil said. He added that the Ralphs chain was hit with five or six citations in Riverside County and one or two citations in San Luis Obispo County. Each citation carried a $300 fine.
Had the general counsel ruled against Ralphs, parameters for a fine were anywhere from $100 to $3,000 per bag of grapes falsely marketed and on display in the stores.
The false advertising involved two separate sets of infractions dating back to late June and early July. The state departments general counsel reviewed each set of infractions. Steve Lyle, director of public affairs with CDFA, said that the general counsels investigation found "no basis for referring the case on it ends there.
The standard is to prove the stores did it to intentionally mislead," Mr. Lyle continued, adding that the general counsels determination was that there was no intent to mislead. There was no genuine communications between promotions and operations at Ralphs.
Ralphs Grocery Co., a division of The Kroger Co. in Cincinnati, and two chains it operates had been cited for state violations in stores in California for false advertising. The first set of infractions involved 48 Food 4 Less and Foods Co. stores. The infractions involved advertisements that went out in June 29 store fliers and on the Food 4 Less/Foods Co. web site that showed seedless green grapes selling for 67 cents a pound well below the market for California-grown seedless green grapes.
The recognizable CA Grown license plate logo appeared in the ad and caused an uproar among California table grape growers in the Coachella Valley the launching pad for the several-years-old California Grown campaign of the Buy California program.
Blaine Carian, a grape grower and vice president of Desert Fresh in Coachella, CA, was the first to report the erroneous advertisement. Mr. Carian had seen the ad in a friends flier on June 30.
The second set of infractions was discovered July 6 on ads that came out that day. These infractions involved an ad for all Ralphs stores throughout California for fresh Red Globe grapes at $1.99 a pound. In this instance, a friend of Mr. Carian saw the ad and called him, and once again Mr. Carian alerted state authorities.
After Mr. Carian contacted authorities for the first set of infractions, a spot-check by California Department of Food & Agriculture at five stores including Cathedral City revealed that all had Mexican green seedless grapes on their shelves. Mr. Carian perused the Food 4 Less/Foods Co. web site to see ads on-line and discovered that 48 stores in California and nine in Nevada were on ad for the seedless green grapes wrongfully billed as being grown in California.
Terry ONeil, spokesman for Ralphs, said that the chain is very pleased with the general counsels finding.
It was an honest mistake, Mr. ONeil said. Initially when ads were put together two months in advance, Ralphs intended to use Californian-grown grapes, he said. It became apparent to the chain that it couldnt buy enough California-grown grapes to meet its needs, so it bought from Mexico. The chain inadvertently left California Grown in its advertisements, he said.
Were taking more care to double- or triple-check our ads as a result of the problem, Mr. ONeil said. He added that the Ralphs chain was hit with five or six citations in Riverside County and one or two citations in San Luis Obispo County. Each citation carried a $300 fine.
Had the general counsel ruled against Ralphs, parameters for a fine were anywhere from $100 to $3,000 per bag of grapes falsely marketed and on display in the stores.
