In a modern-day David versus Goliath battle, Suzie’s Organic Hard Seltzer from Pendleton, Oregon, took on Anheuser-Busch (NYSE: BUD) in court — and won Round 1.  In an exclusive interview with Hard Seltzer News, Suzie’s CEO Chris Barhyte spoke about the case and what it was like facing an industry giant as a small, family-owned business. 

Suzie’s raised objections when Anheuser-Busch ran an ad for their new Michelob ULTRA Organic Seltzer during the divisional NFL games in late January. The ad made a claim that the new product is the “first national USDA certified organic hard seltzer.”

CEO Takes Offense

The claim from Mich ULTRA was news to Barhyte, whose family-owned company has been selling USDA-certified organic hard seltzer since July 2020.  

Barhyte first heard about the advertisement when he was bombarded with texts from friends and family. 

“My brother actually called me and he played [the ad],” Barhyte said. “He’s like, you got to hear this, so he played it and [sic] here’s a little bit of confusion, like, what is happening?”

Certified Organic by a National Program

Suzie’s Organic Hard Seltzer is USDA Certified Organic by Oregon Tilth. The certification program, called the USDA National Organic Program (NOP), is nationally observed, and certified products can be sold in any U.S. state with the official USDA-certified label on its packaging. The label, a half white and half green circle with the words “USDA Organic” — is easily recognized by most U.S. shoppers, and Oregon Tilth is an Accredited Certifying Agent for the USDA’s NOP. 

Being that Suzie’s is USDA-certified organic by the USDA National Organic Program, the Michelob ULTRA advertisements caused confusion, Barhyte contends.

“People would say to me, ‘Are you sure you’re nationally certified organic?’” Barhyte said. “I had people [ask], ‘Are you just certified for the state of Oregon?’” 

Currently, Suzie’s Organic Hard Seltzer is available in five states, not nationwide. However, they are nationally recognized as certified organic by the USDA. 

“Michelob Ultra is claiming that the statement meant [they’re] nationally distributed,” Barhyte said. “I think the good news is the judge in the ruling…He read the sentence the same way — that it’s not saying that it’s nationally distributed, it’s saying that they’re [in a sense] the sole USDA Organic hard seltzer.”

And, so, David prepared to battle Goliath.

“We immediately did a cease-and-desist letter that said, ‘Well, just quit making the claim,” said Barhyte. “And they said, ‘No that’s not how it works. We’re not going to say anything. We think you guys are crazy how you’re interpreting the language in the ad, and so we’re not going to do anything.’”

The case was finally brought to court on Monday, February 8. The next day, Suzie’s won a 28-day restraining order against Anheuser-Busch, forcing the company to take down the offending advertisements. 

“It’s tough to fight the big guy, right?” said Barhyte. “I mean, that was a tough thing, but it was so amazingly false, it was kind of an easy decision.” 

Friends Cautioned Suzie’s

Barhyte said he had quite a few people who couldn’t believe that he was taking on Anheuser-Busch. But, the cause was important to him — especially when he had people questioning his USDA Organic certification. 

Barhyte explained, “[Anheuser Busch was] taking that claim to a level where they thought that maybe I didn’t have a certification for the whole nation — which we do — so, it just made me emboldened and feel like…they have to be corrected.” 

Judge Gives Temporary Thumbs Up

Barhyte was grateful to the judge for his understanding.  

“I think his twenty-five-page ruling really laid out the facts and their argument versus our argument,” said Barhyte. “They got into to some sentence structure, so anyone that [remembers] English from junior high, high school, even elementary school would appreciate the ruling where it talks about modifying adverbs and adjectives.”

The court battle isn’t quite over yet, with Suzie’s Organic Hard Seltzer looking to win a permanent restraining order. 

“I hope [Anhauser-Busch] changes their advertising to reflect the reality that they’re a nationally distributed seltzer if that’s what they want to tell people, and then this will be behind us,” Barhyte said. 

Stephanie Meade
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