Like any good thriller, the story of cookie biggies Mrs. Fields and Interbake Foods is full of alleged deceit, theft, and betrayal. Now the two companies are headed to the courtroom to air their grievances over a relationship that crumbled like stale cookies.
Bloomberg reports that Mrs. Fields and Interbake are set to go to trial to hash out who is at fault for a five-year distribution contract that ended two years early.
The deal, which required Interbake to reach targets for retail sales of cookies until Dec. 2017, ended in April when Interbake walked away, accusing its partner of manipulating sales figures and failing to promote the brand.
Conversely, Mrs. Fields claimed that Interbake failed to meet it sales goals, an accusation the company denies.
Shortly after the breakup took place in April, Mrs. Fields filed a lawsuit seeking tens of millions of dollars from Interbake, claiming the company sabotaged the deal as a way to steal customers and recipes from Mrs. Fields.
The company claims that Interbake cooked up a “covert plan” to adversely affect the deal and “convert Mrs. Fields’ assets, including shelf space, goodwill with retailers and even recipes for its own benefit.”
Those accusation apparently stem from Interbake’s previous attempt to purchase Mrs. Fields.
“Interbake repeatedly sought to purchase the brand beginning shortly after signing the license agreement,” Mrs. Fields’ lawyers told Bloomberg, noting that after the company turned down the offer, Interbake began to signal it would ditch its deal with Mrs. Fields.
For its part, Interbake accuses Mrs. Fields of lying about who many cookies Interbake could expect to sell in grocery and conveinence stores, Bloomberg reports, citing court filings.
“Mrs. Fields filed this lawsuit seeking to make Interbake the scapegoat for its own faults,” Interbake said in court documents.
The judge overseeing the case has ordered the two companies to continue working together until he rules.
Mrs. Fields Turns Up the Heat in Interbake Battle Over Cookies [Bloomberg]
by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist
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