Texas Pete hot sauce is in hot water.
Shutterstock/Billy F Blume Jr
A California-based man is suing Texas Pete Hot Sauce for false advertising because, the lawsuit says, despite its namesake, the sauce is actually produced in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
According to a complaint filed against Texas Pete’s parent company T.W. Garner Food Co., Philip White, a Los Angeles county resident, purchased the condiment at Ralph’s supermarket in September 2021 believing the sauce was Texas-grown. White claims he wouldn’t have bought the product had he known it wasn’t authentic to the Lone Star State.
“Defendant has cheated its way to a market-leading position in the $3 billion-dollar hot-sauce industry at the expense of law-abiding competitors and consumers nationwide who desire authentic Texas hot sauce and reasonably, but incorrectly, believe that is what they are getting when they purchase Texas Pete,” the lawsuit claims, adding that “there is surprisingly nothing Texas about them,” including its Louisiana-style hot sauces.
Additionally, the product’s packaging is “distinctly Texan” the lawsuit claims, although a label on the back of the bottle states it’s manufactured in North Carolina.
The company’s website also discloses where the product is manufactured and states that Texas Pete founder, Sam Garner, named the product after his son and Texas’ “reputation for spicy cuisine.”
However, the lawsuit claims, “nothing would overcome the reasonable impression given by the front label that the Products are indeed made in Texas.”
The plaintiffs have requested the court to force Texas Pete to change its name and branding in addition to paying monetary damages.
The brand has yet to address the lawsuit at this time.
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