Swiss chocolatier Lindt & Sprüngli has scuttled its argument about the quality of its products in a US complaint, despite it being a cornerstone of its business strategy, according to newspaper NZZ am Sonntag .
Lindt & Sprüngli tried unsuccessfully to put an end to a collective complaint in the United States, launched in February 2023 following an article by an American consumer association questioning the presence of heavy metals in tablets of dark chocolate from several manufacturers, including two produced by Lindt.
“In its defense strategy, the company dismantled its own promises of quality,” said the German-speaking Swiss newspaper NZZ am Sonntag on Sunday, which dissected a court decision.
The chocolate maker’s lawyers claimed that the “excellence” and «made with our best ingredients” displayed on the packaging were only “exaggerated advertising”, unusable to incur liability, according to a first instance decision of a court in the Eastern District of New York, dating from early September, consulted by AFP.
Lindt argued that these terms were only “swagger” or “puffery” (puffery in English), notes the Swiss daily Le Temps, which believes that the group is “walking on a tightrope” with “this daring defense “.
Lindt’s margins are due to “the fact that consumers are willing to pay more for its industrial chocolates because of their quality image”, underlines the French-speaking newspaper.
Collective complaint
The New York court rejected the arguments of the Swiss group, which tried to block this collective complaint.
Contacted Monday by AFP, Lindt did not immediately comment on the information.
Consumers in Alabama, California, Florida, Illinois, Nevada and New York took legal action in the United States following the publication at the end of 2022 of an article by the American consumer association Consumer Reports concerning the presence of lead and cadmium in dark chocolate bars.
This association had tested 28 tablets marketed in the United States. One of Lindt’s tablets was among the eight with a high level of cadmium, another among the 10 with a high level of lead, without obtaining the worst rating.
Two of Lindt’s products, marketed by its American brand Ghirardelli, were even classified among the safest.
While tablets from other manufacturers had higher concentrations of heavy metals, including organic brands, consumers insisted in this collective complaint that they had paid more for Lindt products in order to afford quality products.
Switzerland is very attached to quality, its calling card for selling products that are often more expensive given high production costs in the Alpine country.
