Forget the label. How many cups of coffee can you get from the package?
Your morning coffee might be good to the last drop, but consumers are starting to complain that they’re not getting enough drops for their buck.
In a lawsuit filed in federal court in Fort Lauderdale, Broward County, Fla., resident Kimberly E. Ferron claims that packages of Maxwell House and Yuban ground coffees intentionally exaggerate the number of 6-ounce cups consumers can expect to make from the amount of coffee inside them.
She says there’s no way a 26.8-ounce container of Maxwell House Master Blend will yield 180 to 210 servings if purchasers follow the label’s “suggested strength” recipe of one tablespoon per 6-ounce cup.
The amount of coffee in the container won’t even yield the minimum number of cups — 180 — claimed on the package if consumers use 1 tablespoon for 6 ounces, Ferron’s claim states.
Ferron is “aggrieved” and “deprived of the benefit of the bargain she reasonably anticipated from the product’s labeling and advertising,” according to the lawsuit filed by Winter Haven-based Southern Atlantic Law Group PLLC.
The suit seeks class action status and more than $30,000 in damages, plus interest, costs and attorneys fees.
Kraft Heinz, represented by Jeffrey Foreman of Miami-based Kenny Nachwalter PA, did not respond to a request for comment.
Ferron’s suit follows others across the country accusing coffee manufacturers of exaggerating how many cups can be brewed from their packages’ contents.
Four of the suits were filed in California: Walmart was sued in August over claims on its “Great Value” coffee can. Kroger was sued in July over claims on its Krogerbrand coffee packages. Folgers was sued in May by two separate plaintiffs who said they were deceived by claims on that company’s labels.
Plaintiffs in these suits say they would not have bought the products if they knew that the labels exaggerated the ingredients.
Those suits followed a September 2019 post on the website of Truth in Advertising, a consumer-focused nonprofit organization, challenging Folgers’ claim that its 30.5-ounce Classic Roast package makes up to 240 6-ounce cups.
The post’s authors said they measured out the number of tablespoons in the container and discovered just 175 — 65 tablespoons short of the amount needed to brew 240 cups.