Food, Beverage & Agribusiness
The route food and beverages travel—from farm to business to table—is a long and circuitous one. O’Melveny guides industry clients every step along the way.
The route food and beverages travel—from farm to business to table—is a long and circuitous one. O’Melveny guides industry clients every step along the way.
Whether advising investors on opportunities in agritech, landowners and farming operations on water rights, consumer brands on labeling and product liability claims, or businesses on disposal of food waste, our ability to provide comprehensive counseling is rooted in our deep understanding of the industry drawn from decades of experience handling strategically important business and legal matters.
Our corporate counselors help negotiate sophisticated investments, mergers, acquisitions, and dispositions. At the forefront of market developments and trends, we help clients navigate new regulatory and enforcement issues and hotly litigated areas of law such as co-called “forever chemicals” (PFAS), microplastics, ultraprocessed foods, and greenwashing claims involving food safety and packaging.
Recognized authorities, we play an important role in shaping the ideas that affect the industry, with a team that includes a member of the adjunct faculty at Columbia Law School who teaches a course on US Food Law and Policy as well as a former Senior Counsel and Special Assistant to the President who led in-depth congressional investigations into FDA’s oversight of food safety.
Clients come away impressed, with The Legal 500 quoting one praising our “ability to resolve complex legal questions beyond the black letter law by providing unique, creative and bespoke solutions.”
Areas of Focus
- Advertising, marketing, and branding
- Antitrust counseling and litigation
- Bankruptcy and restructuring
- Consumer protection suits and class actions
- Copyright and trademark
- Corporate transactions, including financings, mergers, acquisitions, and dispositions
- Government investigations and enforcement actions
- Product liability and mass torts litigation
Defending a health care company against multiple putative class actions over its infant formula, such as allegations that the company deceived the public over genetically engineered ingredients in certain products.
Defeated and favorably resolved multiple class action suits contending that the representation of water bottles as “100% Recyclable” is misleading to consumers.
Won a federal court bench trial in a suit alleging that GT, the leading producer of kombucha, misrepresents the level of alcohol and sugar in its beverages.
Advising the unsecured creditors’ committee in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy of Idaho cattle company Millenkamp Cattle.
Counseling the conglomerate on the US$20 million sale of its North American food and beverage importing and distribution business to Atalanta Corporation.
Defended one of the “big four” beef processors in United States, in Brown et al. v. JBS USA Food Company et al. (D.Col.), a class action alleging that many of the largest US producers of beef and pork conspired to depress the compensation paid to employees at processing plants below competitive levels. In 2024, we negotiated a favorable settlement extricating National Beef from the litigation.
Assisted OTPP and its portfolio company FirstFruits Farms in assessing the validity of the water rights, and ultimately the acquisition, of 8,000 acres of apple tree orchards in Washington State.
Representing one of the California’s most innovative farming operations, Terranova Ranch, in its efforts to secure a reliable water supply for its groundbreaking aquifer recharge project.
Secured dismissal of more than a dozen putative class actions alleging false advertising and fraud claims concerning a variety of food products, including: honey, alkaline water, wine allegedly containing toxic arsenic, cereals, cookies, juice, baked goods, sauces, soymilk, and a variety of other consumer packaged goods and food products.
Obtained summary judgment in a putative class action alleging the company failed to disclose the presence—or even the risk of presence—of trace levels of lead, cadmium, and arsenic in certain dark chocolate bars, even though the amount of these chemicals fell below the infinitesimal levels requiring disclosure under California’s Proposition 65 consumer protection law.
Advised the company on the sale of Truett Hurst Vineyard to Aesthete Wines.
Among “the elite” for product liability and mass torts
—Chambers USA
“A notable reputation representing consumer products manufacturers in a wide range of product liability and consumer class action matters.”
—The Legal 500 US
Top ranked for water law: “Frequently sought after by major water users, agricultural companies, government agencies and water investors, as well as financiers facing a range of water law issues.”
—Chambers USA
O’Melveny “excels in handling complex mass tort and class action product liability claims and is adept at coordinating strategy throughout the process, including at a trial stage should the need arise. Another core strength is the firm’s ability to handle disputes progressing not only on the private litigation front but also in terms of government investigations which often arise out of mass torts.”
—The Legal 500 US