Oregon company sues Bob Evans
Jan 26, 2013 (Menafn - The Columbus Dispatch - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --A Beaverton, Ore., food company is suing Bob Evans Farms, alleging that the Columbus company stole its proprietary process for baking macaroni and cheese and scalloped potatoes.
Reser's Fine Foods Inc. supplied Bob Evans with private-label home fries, mashed potatoes, pastas and other side dishes sold in retail stores for more than 17 years, according to Reser's lawsuit.
The Oregon company developed a "revolutionary new baking process" that it shared with Bob Evans in 2010 after signing a confidentiality agreement. Now, it is accusing Bob Evans of stealing its trade secret and using it to make "knockoff products" at its recently acquired Kettle Creations unit. "We are aware of this complaint, believe the allegations to be without merit and intend to defend this matter vigorously," Bob Evans spokeswoman Margaret Standing said in an email.
It took Reser's three years and more than 10 million to perfect its proprietary baking process, which produces a "crunchy, caramelized, browned top layer over a creamy bottom layer" in refrigerated side dishes, according to the company's lawsuit.
Reser's Baked line "is a ready-baked product that is designed to be ready to eat in minutes after it is reheated in a microwave or consumer's oven," the company said in its suit.
In 2010, Bob Evans sent employee Dee Hadley to visit Reser's oven facility in Pasco, Wash. "She spent quite a lot of time on the floor observing while desired browning levels were being developed," Reser's lawsuit said.
In August, Bob Evans acquired side-dish maker Kettle Creations in Lima for 50 million in cash, giving the Columbus company its first capacity to make its own side dishes.
Reser's said it feared Bob Evans would use its proprietary baking process to develop competing products, so it stopped selling baked products to the Columbus food retailer in October.
Within weeks, Bob Evans started selling its own baked macaroni and cheese, hash brown casserole and scalloped potatoes under the same UPC symbols that had been used on the Reser's-supplied products, Reser's said.The Oregon company is seeking damages of 100,000, which could be tripled if it wins, for theft of trade secrets and breach of contract. The company also has asked a federal district court judge in Portland, Ore., to stop Bob Evans from using Reser's trade secrets.
On Jan. 18, Judge Ann Aiken granted Reser's motion for a protective order that would keep confidential information that Reser's wants to share with the court while pursuing a restraining order against Bob Evans.
mvanac@dispatch.com
@maryvanac
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