Travis Scott’s Cacti brand of spiked seltzer with Anheuser-Busch has landed the beverage giant and hot water.
A disgruntled fan is filing a class-action lawsuit against Anheuser-Busch over the product’s labeling, which the woman says is misleading.
Rebecca Read has issues with Cacti’s claims that the product is “made with 100% Blue Agave from Mexico.”
Read says she bought Cacti in June and July of 2021, thinking it would contain agave spirits because it is labeled as “Agave Spiked Seltzer.”
She was disappointed to learn that the product was an “agave sweetener” and not the real thing.
Read said she chose to purchase Cacti, even though it was more expensive than other spiked seltzer water on the shelves, because she assumed she was getting the real thing – a sliver of Blue Agave – which is used to make tequila.
As a result, Read claims she was beaten out of her money because the product was worth less than what she would have paid if Cacti did not make false and misleading statements about the spiked seltzer.
For the uninitiated, agave is a plant native to arid and semi-arid regions of the Americas, particularly Mexico.
The Weber Blue Agave plant is the base for making tequila. The popularity of the drink has skyrocketed in the United States in recent years. Consumption in the U.S. has risen by more than 30% between 2015 and 2020.
As such, demand for 100% Blue Agave plant products has exploded. Agave-based spirits are the third-largest spirits category in the U.S., following vodka and whiskey.
According to Rebecca Read, state and federal relation regulations require the front label of Cacti to identify the product as something other than “Agave Spiked Seltzer.”
“The Product lacks any Agave spirits and instead uses ‘Agave syrup,’ a sweetener derived from the Agave plant, as shown in the fine print ingredient list on the back of the Product,” according to Read’s complaint. “Defendant sold more of the Product and at higher prices than it would have in the absence of this misconduct, resulting in additional profits at the expense of consumers. Had Plaintiff and proposed class members known the truth, they would not have bought the Product or would have paid less for it.”
Rebecca Read and her lawyers are hoping to have her complaint certified as a class-action lawsuit, since Cacti has been sold to consumers nationwide.
Rebecca Read is being represented by Spencer Sheehan of Sheehan & Associates, P.C. in Great Neck, New York.
