WINSTON SALEM, NC (WGHP) – A California grocery shopper filed a class action lawsuit against TW Garner Food Co., accusing false advertising about their Texas Pete hot sauce brand.
His problem? Texas Pete Hot Sauce is not made in Texas, but rather in North Carolina.
Philip White, of Los Angeles, says he was under the impression that Texas Pete hot sauce was made in Texas when he bought a $ 3 bottle at a Ralph’s supermarket in September 2021, according to the complaint.
“White relied on the language and images displayed on the front label of the product and knew at the time of purchase that the product was a Texas product,” the complaint read.
The label includes “the famous white ‘lone’ star of the Texas flag along with a cowboy ‘lasso’,” which are images White assumed to be distinctly Texan, the lawsuit claimed.
White said he was later surprised to learn that Texas Pete is not a Texas product, but is made in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, a fact that TW Garner Food Co. he readily admits on his website.
“There’s surprisingly nothing Texas about them,” says the brand’s cause. The complaint also claims that Texas Pete’s ingredients also come from “sources outside of Texas”.
Why is Texas Pete called Texas Pete?
It’s an obvious question, and the brand even acknowledges that it might confuse some.
The brand’s website highlights a Article of December 5, 2013 from the Triad Business Journalcoming up with the following sentence: “With a name like Texas Pete, one would think that the famous hot sauce is produced somewhere in the Lone Star State.”
But Texas Pete address this question beforehandand Carolina does not shy away from her roots.
“‘So how is it possible that a tasty chili sauce made in North Carolina is still called’ Texas Pete ‘?'” Asks the site, preemptively, on its history page.
According to Texas Pete, “legend has it” that company founder Sam Garner and his sons Thad, Ralph and Harold were trying to find a name for their hot sauce when they approached their marketing consultant. The consultant recommended “‘Mexican Joe’ to connote the spicy flavor of the cuisine they associated with the region.
Garner rejected this idea in favor of “an American name” and instead suggested Texas, “which also had a reputation for spicy cuisine,” the website states. Garner added “Pete” as a nod to his son Harold’s nickname.
But White, in his complaint, points to the brand’s own history as evidence of alleged misleading advertising.
“In revealing the thought process behind its brand, [T.W. Garner Food Co.] admits that Texas’s reputation was what they were trying to mimic and capitalize on when creating their brand, “the complaint said.
The complaint accuses Texas Pete of devising a “false marketing and labeling scheme precisely because he knows that the state of Texas enjoys a certain mysticism and charm in the consumer market and is known for its quality cuisine, spicy food and spicy sauce in particular “.
If he had known that Texas Pete wasn’t made in Texas, White says he wouldn’t have bought the hot sauce, or paid that much. He believes he is not the only one.
“By stating that its Texas Pete brand hot sauce products are Texas products when they are not, [T.W. Garner Food Co.] has achieved a market-leading position in the $ 3 billion hot sauce industry at the expense of law-abiding competitors and consumers nationwide who want authentic Texas hot sauce and reasonably, but mistakenly, believe that’s what they get it when they buy Texas Pete, “the complaint states.
The complaint alleges that the Texas brand ultimately hurts smaller Texas companies that are trying to take advantage of the authenticity of their Texas hot sauce.
White’s complaint, filed on behalf of all the people in the United States who bought Texas Pete, asks the court to force Texas Pete to change his name and brand and pay.
TW Garner Food Co. has until November 10 to respond to the complaint.
