A class action contends that Bigelow tea is not “Manufactured in the USA” as advertised but rather “wholly or predominantly” comprised of tea, flavors and materials imported from other countries.

New York General Business Law

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A proposed class action contends that Bigelow tea is not “Manufactured in the USA 100%” as advertised but rather “wholly or predominantly” comprised of tea, flavors and materials imported from other countries.

The 27-page suit alleges defendant R.C. Bigelow, Inc. “simply purchases these foreign ingredients and materials,” and blends and packages them, before distributing the tea to wholesalers and retailers. 

“That is the full extent of the U.S. manufacturing activity,” the lawsuit says. 

According to the suit, none of the Bigelow tea products listed below contain any tea that was harvested or processed in the United States. More specifically, many of the products are made with black, green and oolong tea leaves derived from the Camellia Sinensis plant, case relays. None of the Camellia Sinensis plants used to manufacture Bigelow tea is grown in the United States, the suit says. 

“Rather, all of the Camellia Sinensis plant that is used to make the Class Products is grown on tea plantations/factories in countries such as India, China, and Sri Lanka,” the filing reads. 

The plaintiffs, two New York consumers, say they bought Bigelow tea based on the belief that the products, whose labels prominently state that Bigelow is “American Family Owned” and that the tea is “America’s Classic,” were manufactured in the United States. The flavors of Bigelow tea covered by the lawsuit include:

Per the suit, most of the world’s tea comes from China, India, Sri Lanka, and Kenya, and grows in mountainous areas 3,000 to 7,000 feet above sea level between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn in mineral-rich and acidic soil. 

As the case tells it, the U.S. grows “a minuscule amount of tea,” as the 127-acre Charleston Tea Garden in South Carolina is the only tea plantation in the country. 

Although Bigelow owns the Charleston Tea Garden, none of the teas at issue in the lawsuit are made with tea grown or processed there, the suit says. 

The finished tea Bigelow imports and uses to make the flavors mentioned in the case are not raw, but rather finished, consumable tea, the product of a “complex manufacturing process” that involves “both intense manual labor and the use of heavy machinery,” according to the case. 

“The tea that is used to make the Class Products comprises a considerable percentage of the product’s value,” the suit elaborates. “There are additional flavors or spices added to some of the Class Products, but many of these additional flavors or spices (e.g., Bergamot oil, lemon verbena, licorice root, etc.) are also wholly-sourced from abroad.” 

Moreover, several of the Bigelow products at issue are herbal teas, meaning they contain no tea derived from the Camellia Sinensis plant, the case continues. Nevertheless, these herbal teas are “entirely or predominantly” made with foreign-sourced botanicals, the lawsuit claims. 

In all, the packaging of Bigelow tea products, “taken in isolation and as a whole,” conveys to reasonable consumers “the unequivocal message” that the tea is made or manufactured stateside, the filing contends. The suit argues that Bigelow cannot use the “Manufactured in the USA” claim since no significant processing of the tea occurs in the United States, and virtually all ingredients and components of the tea are sourced from abroad.  

The lawsuit looks to cover all consumers who bought any of the varieties of Bigelow tea listed on this page in New York within the applicable statute of limitations period. 

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