Food and Beverage
When the titans of the food and beverage industry face high-stakes litigation, transactional opportunities, and potential obstacles to growth and competition, they turn to Jenner & Block.
Recognized as among the country's leading food and beverage practices by Law360 and Chambers USA, our Food and Beverage team is remarkably well-rounded and has honed its litigation and transactional capabilities to a fine edge. We handle the complete gamut of litigation, investigations, transactions, and counseling issues that most impact our clients' businesses and reputations.
Experience
Litigation:
- Representing a baby food manufacturer in first-of-its-kind class action litigation in the EDNY arising from a Congressional investigation allegedly identifying the presence of dangerous levels of heavy metals in the products.
- Representing a multinational food company in several consumer class action cases consolidated in the Northern District of Illinois, alleging dangerous levels of chemicals in products that were introduced through processing, additionally seeking companies to disclose the possibility that products might contain trace amounts of chemicals.
- Represented a multinational snack company in a dispute with its insurance company over coverage for more than $100 million in losses caused by a computer malware attack; their claim was denied due to a war exclusion and following a three-week jury trial, a settlement was reached just prior to closing arguments.
- Established a key precedent in food protein labeling with a win for a multinational food manufacturer in a class action alleging that certain food labels stating the amount of protein in its products are misleading because the labels don’t indicate how much of that protein is of a certain quality and digestible.
- Representing a multinational snack company in breach of contract and warranty claims against a supplier for damages suffered as a result of a broad food product recall due to whey powder contaminated with salmonella.
Transactional:
- Represented Archer Daniels Midland in the $1.3 billion sale of its global cocoa business to Olam International Limited and in its $440 million sale of its global chocolate business to Cargill.
- Represented Cox Enterprises in the acquisition of BrightFarms, an indoor farming company and provider of locally grown packaged salads.
- Represented John B. Sanfilippo and Son, Inc. in its $31.5 million acquisition of Squirrel Brand and in numerous corporate transactions, including asset sales of intellectual property, joint ventures, public equity offerings, credit financings and term loan facilities, as well as counseling on general corporate matters.
- Represented Snyder’s-Lance in its $6.1 billion acquisition by Campbell Soup Company and in its $1.8 billion acquisition of Diamond Foods, Inc.
- Represented US Foods Holdings Corp. in $1.175 billion initial public offering of common stock, $1 billion secondary public offering of common stock, and $1.35 billon registered debt exchange offer.
Co-Chairs
Co-Chairs