Dairy Farmers of America (DFA), the largest dairy farmers cooperative in the United States, filed a federal lawsuit against Arkansas-based coffee and beverage manufacturer Westrock Coffee, alleging theft of trade secrets.
The lawsuit, filed late last year in U.S. District Court in the Western District of Missouri, names Westrock and six former DFA employees who later worked at Westrock as defendants.
The suit alleges that the former DFA employees used confidential information regarding the manufacturing processes and pricing structures related to the production of ready-to-drink (RTD) coffee products. It accuses Westrock of “soliciting the joint venture to manufacture the identical products that DFA is currently manufacturing.”
In a statement shared with DCN, a Westrock spokesperson acknowledged the lawsuit but denied that the company improperly used confidential information.
“DFA alleges that Westrock Coffee and these individuals improperly used DFA’s confidential trade secret information to solicit a DFA customer,” Westrock Coffee Chief Legal Officer Bob McKinney said. “We firmly deny these allegations. In reality, we had reached an agreement on the terms under which we would provide RTD products for this customer months in advance of hiring anyone who had worked at DFA.”
Lawyers on behalf of the DFA claim that information was illegally shared with Westrock prior to the 2024 opening of the company’s industrial beverage manufacturing facility in Conway, Arkansas.
The suit noted that Westrock’s factory is a direct competitor to two of DFA’s own beverage manufacturing facilities in Missouri.
The suit cites an alleged May 2024 whistleblower complaint from someone at Westrock who said former DFA employees were “actively recruiting” existing DFA employees to work at the Westrock plant.
“This Westrock employee also reported that former DFA employees secretly obtained confidential and proprietary DFA quality assurance procedures, formulas, pricing information, and food plans so that Westrock could implement and incorporate the trade secrets at the Conway facility,” the suit claims. “The secretly obtained information included, among other types of information, specific recipes for products and pictures of manufacturing lines that would assist in construction and improvement of the Westrock manufacturing equipment.”
The suit specifically alleges separate counts of misappropriation of trade secrets and civil conspiracy against Westrock and the six former DFA employees.
In the statement to DCN, Westrock’s McKinney said:
At Westrock Coffee we are, and have always been, committed to conducting our operations with the highest standards of integrity, professionalism, and ethical responsibility. Our company and employees take pride in upholding these values in every aspect of our work, ensuring transparency, honesty, and accountability in all our dealings. We believe that a comprehensive review of the facts will demonstrate that the business we have won from DFA and other competitors is on the merits and in accordance with our unwavering dedication to ethical business conduct.
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