Walmart Sued Over “Craft Beer” Claim

A lawsuit filed in Ohio alleges that four types of beer sold by Walmart are deceptively marketed as craft beers, in a strategy that is a “wholesale fiction” designed to get consumers to pay a higher price. The four beers are labeled as being produced by “Trouble Brewing,” but according to the lawsuit, as reported in Cincinnati.com, Trouble Brewing is a creation of WX Brands, which develops exclusive brands of beers for retailers and brews in large quantities. The lawsuit includes excerpts from a January Washington Post article in which a Walmart buyer describes how the company was “intentional about designing a package that conveyed a look and feel you’d expect of craft beer.” The putative class action was filed in the Hamilton County Common Pleas Court, in Cincinnati.