Kraft gets cheesed at Cracker Barrel
The consumer foods giant wants to block the Cracker Barrel restaurant chain from grocery stores.
It's shaping up to be a fight between two big cheeses.
Kraft (KRFT) is suing Cracker Barrel Old Country Store (CBRL) in an effort to keep branded products from the restaurant chain out of grocery stores.
The lawsuit will pit two well-known consumer brands against each other over who controls the Cracker Barrel name in grocery stores.
The problem began when Cracker Barrel Old Country Store -- no relation to Kraft's line of Cracker Barrel cheeses -- announced in November that ham, bacon and other foods would soon appear in grocery stores with the Cracker Barrel name.
The restaurant chain noted that the plans would have no effect in its 2013 fiscal year, but that it hoped to increase visibility by reaching out to supermarket shoppers.
It's getting the type of visibility it probably didn't want, however.
Kraft, which has sold its Cracker Barrel-branded cheese for about 60 years, wants to ban Cracker Barrel Old Country Store from any branded food beyond its restaurants, stores or website, USA Today reports.
"I think this will be a serious fight," trademark attorney Mark Patterson told the newspaper. "Kraft could prevail in this case."
That could hamper Cracker Barrel Old Country Store's growth plans, notes FoodWorldNews. Losing the battle with Kraft could "be a hard setback to the country store chain."
For its part, Kraft has been on a push to promote its Cracker Barrel brand. Last year, it introduced a new advertising campaign, taking out its first TV spots in more than a decade, to tout the cheese's award-winning flavor.
Kraft said it's willing to talk with Cracker Barrel, suggesting a settlement between the two food companies is a possibility, USA Today notes.
Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, which started in 1969, operates more than 600 restaurants and has about $2.4 billion in annual sales. Kraft owns dozens of brands, ranging from Jell-O to Oscar Mayer, and has $19 billion in annual revenue.
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I wish they would quit whining, I promise I will not confuse the two businesses. My husband loves Cracker Barrel's bacon and I would love to buy it in the grocery store. We also eat Cracker Barrel, the cheese companies cheese, but it is expensive and we only buy it when it's on sale. So come on, why can't we all just get along?
". "We can't charge $16 for a salad, it's unreal." as if that bothers any of those who have no problem fleecing the public.
Americans do appreciate your honesty and candor .
As for the lettuce , no one will die if you don't serve it for a while, apple sauce is just as good, if not better for us.
Do what the old timers did when someone doubled the price of a product; they doubled the amount of the product they did not use.Like , coffee, if they drank 2 cups before , they only drink one now.
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