George Clooney, or at least his tequila, may not be as smooth as he makes out.
The Hollywood star helped make Casamigos the fourth best-selling tequila brand in the world, but it’s now the subject of a lawsuit claiming consumers have been paying “super premium prices” for an inferior quality product.
Casamigos and another premium tequila brand, Don Julio, both claim they are made exclusively with 100% Blue Weber agave and retail for $50 to $150 per bottle as a result.
Cheaper tequilas, known as “mixtos,” require only 51% of the sugar in them comes from the agave plant, with the remainder usually ordinary cane sugar.
The new class-action lawsuit against Diageo, the parent company which owns both brands, claims that according to lab tests, a significant amount of the alcohol in Casamigos and Don Julio (who was a real person) is actually from cane sugar, which is much cheaper to produce.
The federal suit was filed earlier this week in the Eastern New York division of the US District Court by Avi Pusatezri, a New Yorker who owns a company that teaches mixology, Chaim Mishulovin, and restaurant Sushi Tokyo. The plaintiffs are seeking $5 million each in damages.
The case cites a new form of testing that can determine whether tequila has been adulterated with cane sugar. Ironically for tequila enthusiasts, if the lawsuit proves true, it would suggest they have been drinking potentially inferior products without noticing a significant difference.
In a statement, the firm behind the suit, Hagens Berman, told me, “Diageo marketed its tequila brands as ‘luxury’ and ‘super-premium’ and sold them at prices that reflected those promises to consumers. Diageo is one of the biggest companies in this industry, but it’s not above the law, and we believe this deception has a real price tag.”
The lawsuit is a fresh headache for Diageo after it only recently resolved longstanding disputes with Diddy over his Ciroc vodka and Deleon tequila brands.
Although Clooney and business partner Randy Gerber sold Casamigos to British company Diageo for $1 billion in 2017, the deal was staggered over the next ten years and included the pair staying on as brand ambassadors, according to the BBC. The company’s website and social media still prominently feature them both and Gerber’s wife, Cindy Crawford, has also appeared in promotional pics.
“These claims of adulteration are outrageous and categorically false; Don Julio and Casamigos tequilas are crafted from 100% Blue Weber Agave and are in full compliance with the official tequila standard … We look forward to vigorously defending the quality and integrity of our Tequilas in court,” a spokesperson for Diageo said.
Clooney did not immediately return a request for comment.
This story is part of NYNext, an indispensable insider insight into the innovations, moonshots and political chess moves that matter most to NYC’s power players (and those who aspire to be).
While the suit is focused on two of Diageo’s tequilas, one liquor executive told me the lawsuit could spark a reckoning in the booze industry and, if the testing holds up, spread to other premium brands.
“Anything that erodes trust in the industry isn’t good,” he said, noting that many in the younger generation are embracing sobriety or “California sober” lifestyles (avoiding alcohol and hard drugs, but still smoking weed).
The lawsuit also underscores tensions between skilled agave farmers who grow the crops which make the premium product and the corporations which leverage celebrities such as Clooney to market their products and retain most of the profits.
Unlike wineries, which typically grow grapes, produce wine, and distribute it, most agave farmers do not control the production or distribution of tequila.
On the flip side, the lawsuit should prompt consumers to pay closer attention to what they’re drinking and where it comes from.
Credit: Source link
