Cape May Brewing Co Accused of Stealing Shore Tea Drink
Cape May Brewing Co Accused of Stealing Wawa Shore Tea Drink
When you think of controversy you think of politics and politics normally drives you for a nice cold drink. Turns out, this new controversy involves a cold drink.
This past month Cape May Brewing Company partnered up with convenience store fan favorite Wawa, to introduce a new kind of beer, “Peach Shore Tea.”
Cape May Brewing Co Accused of Stealing Shore Tea Drink
Shore Tea is a mix of Wawa’s iconic Peach Tea and Cape May Brewing Company’s hops. The drink became a hit overnight and those who try to jump online to order will find that they are completely sold out.
Its success may be stolen says Jeff Plate, who was a co-founder of Asbury Park Brewery.
Plate took to Instagram on July 29th to say that “Shore Tea” was his idea
His post went on to say;
“Here’s a funny story! I’ve been developing “Shore Tea” since just before pandemic. I brought it to @capemaybrewco in May this year bc I thought it could fit in their portfolio and might be a cool partnership. They passed after a while (I trademarked it and had them sign an NDA) but then released SHORE TEA a week ago!”
The post gained much attention and was shared on Facebook where it went viral.
A search on The United States Patent and Trademark Office website shows that on May 17th, 2022, Jeffrey J Plate did file a trademark for the name ‘Shore Tea.”
Plate’s post made its way on Reddit where he continued his story by saying that “I don’t claim I invented hard tea. But, I did trademark the name SHORE TEA, had my cans designed during the pandemic, and yes brought it to Cape May because I thought it would be a good partnership. They may have had a tea going. But on its face, I brought them my trademarked brand, the signed an NDA, passed, then launched this months later.”
Cape May Brewing Company put out a statement addressing the claim by saying;
“Any claims that the Peach Shore Tea product, name, branding, or packaging were developed in imitation of anything from any third party are groundless. Cape May’s Peach Shore Tea collaboration with Wawa was a special release for the summer. Like all Cape May products, the recipe and look of Peach Shore Tea have been in development for more than six months, with the name and branding selected well in advance of their release to the public, in this case, finalized in March 2022.”
At this time no one knows where this could land or if this will end up in court.
Stay tuned for more details.
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