Bogus labeling - misleading?

beanflying

I was in the local stupormarket yesterday and spotted a couple of bags on the shelf. Yes it was preground and yes it was from a roaster I am unlikely to try beans from soon but the bag labeling is bordering on false claims IMO

 

While there is nothing legally wrong with it as it uses the word 'style' on the bag it most certainly won't contain either JBM or Guatemalan beans it alludes too  >:( Taken to extremes maybe I should label my bags as Panama Esmeralda Style and throw some ropey old Indian Geisha floor sweepings in it instead, not legally wrong but certainly not kosher at all.

Wonder how the Jamaican or Guatemalan coffee industries would feel about this?

Koffee_Kosmo

It's a word play Would this be categorized as an advertisers stretch of the subject  :question: They do like to take liberties with the truth KK

Muscles

They are definitely trying to "bait 'n' switch" and I am dead against it in any industry. Wonder why they can't promote themselves rather than be a "knock-off" or "clone" type brand? Sad part is, many will fall for it and a few will like what they try and stick with it. There will always be a market for this type of labelling. Not sure which brand it was but yesterday I saw similar packaging on a bag of pre-ground that a co-worker had picked up from his local "Organic" grocery store. When I asked why he bought that one he said it had to better for him because it was organic and better for the farmers because it was labelled as Fair Trade Alliance Certified too... Thing was, they didn't even mention what beans or blend just Organic and Fair Trade and that is all his decision was based on.

FreshCoffee2

Its anyone's interpretation I am afraid. The Guatemala style one could just as easily say "Guatemala blend" or something similar, and while some people think the word "blue" has to have something to do with Jamaica Blue it actually doesnt...there are plantations called "blue mountain" in whatever countries, and if it were to be from a "blue mountain plantation" in  New Guinea, it would be a new guinea style blend. However they could just as easily have called it "papa jaseppee style blend" and it would have about the same amount of significance to whatever is in the packet! Another way to look at it would be.....you and I could together market a packet called "Fully Commercial Blend X", and in the side gusset of the packet we could copy any of the usual waffle that can be found there on any competing brand packet.....master roasted, wood fired, blended to a recipe handed down from father to son, to produce this unbelievable quality signature blend that can be used in all type of coffee makers....... you know the drill. To my way of thinking, that drivel is much more insidious than the titles on these packets. As long as it is "competitive" in character for a particular pricing category in the supermarket, then it could be comparable and therefore possibly not a bad bit of "value" in that context.  Just a viewpoint from another direction, and I am neither disagreeing, nor agreeing with you BF. Just showing there are other ways to look at it and they are not all wrong.

mycuppa

In the US market, Guatemala as an origin generally is highly revered - more so than many other origins. Damn yanks also tend to get first bite at the prime Guats !