Class Action Challenges Bigelow Tea’s ‘Manufactured in the USA’ Claim [UPDATE]
by Erin Shaak
Last Updated on April 15, 2025
Banks et al. v. R.C. Bigelow, Inc.
Filed: July 13, 2020 ◆§ 2:20-cv-06208
A class action claims consumers have been misled by Bigelow Tea’s “manufactured in the USA” representations given no Bigelow-branded tea is sourced from the U.S.
California Business and Professions Code California Unfair Competition Law California Consumers Legal Remedies Act
California
April 15, 2025 – Bigelow Tea Hit with $2.36M Verdict in False Advertising Lawsuit
A California jury has ordered Bigelow Tea to pay consumers more than $2.36 million in damages following a six-day trial for the class action lawsuit detailed on this page.
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Jurors reached a verdict on April 8, 2025, finding that Bigelow Tea violated the California Consumer Legal Remedies Act by falsely advertising certain tea products as made in the United States. Specifically, the jury found that Bigelow Tea either knew the “Manufactured in the USA 100%” statement printed on product packaging was false or that the company had made the statement with a reckless disregard for the truth.
The jury awarded $2,360,744 to all individuals who, since October 17, 2017, purchased at least one 18- or 20-count box of the following Bigelow Tea products labeled as “Manufactured in the USA 100% American Family Owned” at a retail store in California:
- Earl Grey Black Tea Caffeine;
- Green Tea Caffeine;
- Constant Comment Black Tea Caffeine;
- Green Lemon Tea Caffeine;
- Vanilla Chai Black Tea Caffeine;
- English Teatime Black Tea Caffeine;
- Spiced Chai Black Tea Caffeine;
- French Vanilla Black Tea Caffeine; and
- Vanilla Caramel Black Tea Caffeine.
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August 12, 2024 – Federal Judge Rules in Favor of Plaintiffs in Bigelow Tea Lawsuit
The proposed class action lawsuit detailed on this page is set to go to trial after a federal judge found that Bigelow’s “manufactured in the USA” label on its tea products was “literally false.”
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In a 17-page order granting partial summary judgment in favor of the plaintiffs, U.S. District Judge Dean D. Pregerson agreed with the consumers’ argument that the American-made representation is “inherently deceptive as a matter of law.”
“The underlying facts are not in dispute,” Judge Pregerson wrote in the July 8 order, relaying that Bigelow’s tea leaves are entirely grown and processed abroad.
According to the judge, the partial summary judgment leaves “only the issues of Defendant’s state of mind and damages” for the jury to resolve.
At the time of this writing, the case is scheduled to go to trial on October 15, 2024.
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A proposed class action claims consumers have been misled by Bigelow Tea’s “manufactured in the USA” representations given no Bigelow-branded tea is grown or processed in the United States.
Filed by two California residents, the 34-page lawsuit alleges defendant R.C. Bigelow, Inc. has led consumers to believe its tea products are American-made when, in truth, “the products are comprised solely of foreign-sourced and processed tea.”
According to the case, no Bigelow-branded tea products, including the following varieties purported to be “manufactured in the USA,” contain tea leaves grown in America:
Citing representations on Bigelow’s website, the suit says the tea leaves in Bigelow tea products are derived from camellia sinensis plants grown and processed on tea plantations and in processing plants in foreign nations such as India and Sri Lanka.
The United States grows only a “miniscule [sic] amount of tea,” with the nation’s lone tea plantation sitting on 127 acres in Charleston, South Carolina, the lawsuit explains. While Bigelow owns the Charleston Tea Plantation, none of the aforementioned products are made with tea grown there, the suit alleges, adding that the Charleston Tea Plantation brand is the “only brand of tea in the world that is made exclusively with 100% tea grown in America.”
The two plaintiffs claim they were misled by representations on Bigelow’s packaging—such as “America’s Classic,” and “Manufactured in the USA 100% American Family Owned”—that, taken together, “create the impression” that the products were made in the U.S.
“Plaintiffs and Class members did not know, and had no reason to know, that the Products were not manufactured in the USA, because of how the Products are falsely and deceptively packaged,” the complaint states.
Through its allegedly deceptive advertising, Bigelow has attempted to “exploit strong consumer sentiment for American products,” the lawsuit argues, adding that the plaintiffs and proposed class members would have paid less for the tea, or would not have purchased it at all, had they known the truth about the products’ source.
According to the suit, Bigelow commands approximately 24 percent of the market share for bagged/loose-leaf tea in the U.S., producing roughly 1.7 billion bags annually.
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