Edible Arrangements L.L.C., a Wallingford-based company that is among the fastest-growing franchisors in the country, settled its food fight in federal court against a rival company that makes fruit baskets and centerpieces sculpted like floral displays.
The company did not disclose the terms of its settlement with Fresh Fruit Bouquet Co., a Williston Park, N.Y.-based company that likewise operates on a franchise model. Fresh Fruit Bouquet has 25 locations in New York and a dozen other states, but has yet to open a franchise in Connecticut though it is soliciting business here.
Founded in 1999 by Tariq and Kamran Farid, Edible Arrangements has grown to more than 850 locations already open or planned, making it among the dozen fastest-growing franchises according to Inc. magazine. The company”™s 25 Connecticut stores include locations in Bridgeport, Danbury, Norwalk, Stamford and Westport.
The company has bolstered its business with licensing deals with the likes of Walt Disney Co. and Sesame Workshop.
In 2004, a prospective franchisee named James Notaris and his wife Amanda attended an orientation day for prospective franchisees at Edible Arrangements”™ headquarters, a full-day affair that included tasting sessions for still-unreleased products such as chocolate-dipped apple slices.
Instead of inking a franchisee agreement ”“ the company estimates startup costs at between $150,000 and $300,000 ”“ Edible Arrangements claimed Notaris instead misappropriated trade secrets to launch a competing company in 2004, franchising similar stores.
Edible Arrangements said it first learned about Fresh Fruit Bouquet Co. from a retail customer confusing the two companies; and claimed its new rival”™s establishment on Long Island scared off multiple business partners who might otherwise have acquired Edible Arrangements franchises for the area.
In an original answer in court filed last year, Notaris denied wrongdoing and in a counterclaim accused Edible Arrangements of attempting to disrupt Fresh Fruit Bouquet”™s supplier arrangements with its own franchisees in Massachusetts by threatening to drop them as Edible Arrangements suppliers. Edible Arrangements denied the allegations in court documents.
The Fresh Fruit Bouquet litigation is not the first time Edible Arrangements has attempted to take a bite out of a competitor in court; between 1999 and 2005, it traded lawsuits with Incredibly Edible Delites Inc., which traces its own history to 1984 when co-founder Susan Ellman and Ellen Davis say they first began creating floral fruit displays. The Broomall, Pa.-based company has locations in New York and New Jersey, but not Connecticut.
The companies were back in court this year after Edible Arrangements claimed its former franchise sales vice president violated confidentiality agreements by abruptly resigning, then consulting to Incredibly Edible.