Food Fight: Grillo's Pickles says stolen recipes used to make Whole Foods product

Boston-based Grillo's Pickles has filed a lawsuit alleging that a third-party company used a stolen recipe to make products sold under the Whole Foods 365 label. It's the second round of the food fight between Grillo's and New Jersey-based Patriot Pickle. The two companies worked together starting in 2012 until their relationship soured in 2021. The first lawsuit, filed in January, targeted products that Patriot Pickle made for the Wahlburgers brand. It alleged that false claims were being made about their pickles, allowing the product to compete for Grillo's bread and butter. (Video below) Now, Grillo's is accusing Patriot Pickle of using its proprietary recipes in pickle products made for sale at Whole Foods stores nationwide. "Patriot Pickle is trying to profit off of Grillo's 100-year-old family recipe and our trade secrets," Adam Kaufman, the president of Grillo's Pickles, said in a statement. "It's a massive violation of trust and a disappointment that after nearly a decade of partnership, our former co-packer, Patriot Pickle, has violated our agreements and is producing a nearly identical line of pickles for one of our biggest retailers, threatening to permanently damage our business." Grillo's said it faces a significant threat from the 365 product, which was rolled out at Whole Foods at a lower price point and during the highest-grossing time of year for pickle sales. Grillo's Pickles are also sold at Whole Foods. "The filing points to Patriot Pickle's access to Grillo's proprietary recipes and equipment, use of identical ingredients, and organic acid profile tests as proof of Patriot's use and disclosure of Grillo's trade secrets, in violation of the Defend Trade Secrets Act, the Florida Uniform Trade Secrets Act, and contracts between Grillo's and Patriot," the company said in a statement. Travis Grillo started Grillo's Pickles in 2008 using a family recipe to make pickles he sold from a hand-built wooden pickle cart at events in the Boston area. The business was purchased in 2021 by California-based King’s Hawaiian Holding Co. Inc.