A long-running legal row between two beverage alcohol distributors in the US state of Missouri over the Jägermeister brand has been concluded.
Breakthru Beverage Group, which acquired Missouri distributor Major Brands three years ago, has “elected to dismiss the case with prejudice” against Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits. The dispute between Major Brands and Southern Glazer’s dates back to 2018 and concerned an alleged breach, lodged by the former, of Missouri’s alcohol franchise law.
In April 2018, when Jägermeister’s namesake owner, Mast-Jägermeister, shifted its distribution in the state to Southern Glazer’s, Major Brands sued both the distributor and the German company, claiming a violation of the state’s law. In late 2021, a jury found in Major Brands’ favour, awarding the business US$11.75m in damages.
Following an appeal of the decision, however, an “appellate victory” was secured by Southern Glazer’s and Mast-Jägermeister this week, resulting in Breakthru’s dismissal of the case.
“From the start, Southern Glazer’s stood by its position that there was no such franchise relationship [between Major Brands and Mast-Jägermeister], and that its actions were entirely lawful,” the company said yesterday (12 May). “Importantly, there was no settlement payment by either Southern Glazer’s or Jägermeister in connection with the dismissal.”
Breakthru Beverages has not commented on the latest development.
In figures released by The Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America last week, spirits sales in the US declined by 10.5% in the first three months of this year on a 9.9% fall in volumes.
