By Ian Neubauer
An ongoing legal battle between the distributors of Sanpellegrino and Santa Vittoria mineral waters took another turn this week when it was revealed that a Sanpellegrino-owned website is suggesting a number of high-profile Australian restaurants are affiliated with the brand.
Rockpool and Testuya’s are among some of the venues listed at worldmapofthestars.com, a website that lists some of the top restaurants in the world. However, both Rockpool and Testuya’s exclusively stock Santa Vittoria mineral water, which is distributed in Australia by Cantarella Bros.
Sanpellegrino is distributed in Australia by Swiss giant Nestlé, which in February launched a Federal Court action against Cantarella Bros after claiming Santa Vittoria’s packaging and label were indistinguishable to Sanpellegrino’s.
Cantarella Bros struck back this week by lodging a counterclaim alleging the worldofthestars website is deliberately misleading consumers.
The Sanpellegrino website now features an annotation that warns the restaurants listed “have been selected for their quality, not according to whether they serve the San Pellegrino” brand.
However, Cantarella Bros head of marketing, Daniel Abrahams, said the warning was only affixed following the launch of Cantarella Bros’ counterclaim and that it did not go far enough to set the record straight.
A spokesperson for Nestlé said enquiries would be fielded by Sanpellegrino, which could not be reached for comment.
To read TheShout’s original report on the Nestlé -Cantarella Bros feud, click here.
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