The company behind coconut brand COYO, Co Yo Partners, is being sued by its UK licensee, Coconut Planet, after a woman died from anaphylaxis in 2017.
COYO was founded in 2010 by Henry and Sandra Gosling on Queensland's Sunshine Coast. Its range includes coconut yoghurt, frozen yoghurt, and ice cream.
In 2014, COYO granted UK company Planet Coconut exclusive rights to manufacture and sell its products in the UK and Ireland.
On 27 December 2017, Celia Marsh bought a wrap from a sandwich shop that was made by Planet Coconut and labelled as “dairy free coconut alternative”. Marsh had an allergy to milk and shortly after eating the wrap collapsed and died.
At the inquest into her death, the UK coroner found the wrap was contaminated with milk protein.
“A product that is marked ‘dairy free’ should be, free from dairy,” the coroner said.
The coroner found an ingredient in the yoghurt called HG1 had been cross contaminated with milk protein during its manufacture.
“The manufacturer of the dairy free yogurt had in its possession documents which flagged this risk, but this risk was not passed on to its customers,” it said.
Planet Coconut managing director Bethany Eaton told the inquest said she “didn’t ever dream” COYO would contain dairy.
“We never tested the product because I was assured and believed it was being made in an allergen-free environment,” Eaton said.
She said Henry Gosling told her it was made in an allergen-free environment and that he had a “very good” relationship with Tate & Lyle, the HG1 starch supplier.
“I did not believe our product contained dairy. He sold me a licence for a dairy-free yoghurt, and I had to buy the product from him.
“He was very protective of his product and rightly or wrongly I respected that. I did not believe that Henry and Tate & Lyle would produce a product that contained dairy in it.
“I didn’t just rely on his word, I relied on the fact that I had been sold a licence for a dairy-free product and it has been manufactured by Tate & Lyle with CoYo and created a very popular dairy-free yogurt product in Australia.”
Planet Coconut is now suing COYO in the Queensland Supreme Court for misleading or deceptive conduct and breach of contract, seeking $10 million in damages.
It alleges the licensing agreement contained an implied term that the stabiliser would be dairy free.
COYO has launched a counter claim, alleging Planet Coconut breached its licence agreement and that after the companies terminated the licence, a former Planet Coconut director launched a company called COCOS that produces coconut yoghurt using the same ingredients and process.
In a statement, COYO said, “Our Sunshine Coast-based production facility has proudly retained Grade A certification to the BRCGS Global Food Safety Standard, which has set the international safety benchmark for more than 25 years and is the most widely accepted international third-party scheme by specifiers, brands and retailers.
“We will strongly defend the unfounded allegations regarding misleading and deceptive conduct and breaches of the licence agreement, made by Planet Coconut, COYO’s former licensee in the United Kingdom.
“We are also seeking redress from Planet Coconut by way of a separate action which is currently before the Supreme Court. We look forward to successful outcome in respect of this action.”
