A beet-up? Heinz threatens Dick Smith

[grandmoon]

Heinz is threatening to sue Dick Smith over claims made on his company’s beetroot tins.

The company says the wording of a label on Smith’s ‘‘Magnificent Sliced Beetroot’’ constitutes injurious falsehood.

The label says: ‘‘When American-owned Heinz decided to move its beetroot processing facility from Australia to New Zealand causing hundreds of lost jobs, we decided enough is enough.

‘‘So we are fighting back against poor quality imported product.’’

Heinz, in a letter to Mr Smith, said the label falsely represented that hundreds of jobs had been lost and that its NZ products were of poor quality.It says job losses were minimal and that its products are of a high quality.

Heinz demanded Mr Smith re-label his cans or face action in the Federal Court.

‘‘Your statements in relation to both job losses and poor quality are factually incorrect,’’ the letter said.

‘‘Our position is that the statement has caused and continues to cause damage to the reputation of Heinz, together with pecuniary loss to our business.’’

Mr Smith released the letter from Heinz during a rally of dairy farmers at Tongala in the Goulburn Valley.

He said he stood by the claims, but was worried about the potential cost of legal action.

‘‘They would know that to go to every warehouse and change the label and reprint them - we would go broke,’’ Mr Smith told AAP from Tongala on Wednesday.

‘‘They’re only doing this because we’re taking up their market share.

‘‘Most people don’t look at the label; they just know our stuff is better quality.’’

Mr Smith said he relied on media reports over the job-shedding claim.Comment is being sought from Heinz.

Read more: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/business/a-beetup-heinz-threatens-dick-smith-20130213-2ecax.html#ixz...

[lakeland27]

 i buy at a local produce market (fruit and veg) the bloke who runs it is always complaining he cant sell enough to make it worthwhile. but he's there every sunday. he sells his veg and another guy's fruit . i hope he keeps going.

[the_hawk*]

Thats the only way local farmers can sell their stuff when the big supermakets wont buy from them and want to control evrything

[lakeland27]

 he used to crop potatoes in a big way but gave it up to grow vegies for market because the price he was getting was not worth it anymore. 3rd generation spud producer.. even looks like one.  the price we are paying for selling off all of those commodities and coal is having to import a lot more to even up the trade balance. Gina's gain is his loss.

[the_hawk*]

Yer its a real wory that we are selling the farm and the country for a quick $, we will really pay the price further down the track.

You really have to wonder if our government is really looking after the peoples best interests or in it just to feather their own nests and selling us out

[cueperkins]

Which Govt Hawk?  This one? & the one before that?....right back to Whitlam basically.  That was the last time the concept of buying back the farm became focal, and when you consider it's been an issue since before the '70's....you'd have to include every Govt before & since Gough, on both sides.

[the_hawk*]

yes you would be right they have been selling the farm, the country and us out for a long time and its not just labor its all of them 

The short sighted policies have screwed this country and we are going down a slippery slope, The debt the US owe to China is an unimaginable debt and they are busy buying us out of our own country with the governments blessing 

[cueperkins]

I may be wrong, but I think our age group who witnessed the most cooperative Coup in the history of American Coups (when a PM dared to stand up for Australia's economic future), can't forgive any of them for robbing us of that future. 

We've watched it slip away bit by bit, decade by decade.....soon we'll own nothing.

I was a bit annoyed when the recent news blamed our generation for the state we're in.....like it was any different before us or even now?...lol.   Like anything we did was going to change it?...crikey it's about the only thing that never changes = Australia being sold for a sixpence.

[topsidesoul]

yes you would be right they have been selling the farm, the country and us out for a long time and its not just labor its all of them 

The short sighted policies have screwed this country and we are going down a slippery slope, The debt the US owe to China is an unimaginable debt and they are busy buying us out of our own country with the governments blessing 

That is sad because for some of the richest countries, clean water and healthy soil is priceless.

Obviously in this case its China necause of their poulation..

Lots of farming land in Africa has been bought up by the chinese as well.

Meanwhile those here who rule or own ... look at our country as a cake to cut up  and will continue to do so.

[lakeland27]

if you look at other large commodity exporters .. say Saudi Arabia , what do they make ? they dont . they import everything including labour. we are headed the same way because of our coal iron ore and gas exports. the success of a few Gina's and Clives and Andrew's put the rest of our trade out of whack.. we are victims of their success. if thse enterprises were state owned at least we'd all benefit.. we could sit around in white robes smoking hookah and watching palestinian workers dig it all up.. only genuine socialism can save us. 😉

[the_hawk*]

The mining boom is great for a few, but its not going to support the whole country, we are now nothing but consumers and rapidly running out of things to sell to pay the bills