Pickle maker Grillo’s Pickles has declared war on partner-turned-foe Patriot Pickle in a salty new lawsuit filed Tuesday, obtained by The Daily Beast. In the civil suit, Grillo’s has accused Patriot of using its secret recipe to make a line of pickles for Whole Foods’ 365 brand. Those pickles “look and taste incredibly similar to Grillo’s” products, the suit claims. They also allegedly have “virtually identical” nutrition information and ingredients as Grillo’s. Patriot first got its hands on Grillo’s recipe and process in 2012, when the two companies started a co-packing relationship, the suit says. Grillo’s claims that it had a mutual NDA with Patriot “to protect Grillo’s recipes,” which the company is now accusing Patriot of violating. “Patriot has not returned all its copies of Grillo’s trade secret recipes and processes,” the suit claims, adding that “Patriot also has not destroyed all notes and copies” of those recipes, as they allegedly promised. Grillo’s is seeking monetary damages, as well as demanding that Patriot’s purloined pickles be pulled from shelves.
