Food fight: Peanut butter brand sues Broomfield supplier

BROOMFIELD — Nerdy Nuts LLC, a South Dakota-based nut-butter brand, sued a group of its suppliers this week in Broomfield District Court, accusing The Kitchen Coop LLC and affiliates of providing subpar product and holding its “materials and ingredients hostage.”

While Nerdy Nuts, the company’s complaint said, “is able to produce a portion of its peanut butter products locally in Rapid City, South Dakota, due to rising demand and other restrictions, Nerdy Nuts outsources the manufacturing of some of its products to third parties.”

In 2022, Nerdy nuts began contracting with Oregon-based Nutworks Packaging LLC, a co-defendant in the lawsuit which, according to the complaint, later merged with The Kitchen Coop in Broomfield, representatives of which did not respond to a request for comment.

“Following fulfillment of (a Nutworks) purchase order, in late January and early February of 2023, Nerdy Nuts received over 180 customer complaints regarding issues with the product including quality, texture, and taste,” and “was forced to issue thousands of dollars in refunds.”

After this incident and after Nutworks and The Kitchen Coop merged in 2023, a series of disputes arose around shipping and storage of product, the lawsuit claims. 

Nerdy Nuts alleges that in March 2023 The Kitchen Coop improperly “sent an invoice in the amount of $5,205.00 to Nerdy Nuts for warehouse fees and for shipping from Oregon to Colorado, even though Nerdy Nuts had never agreed to be responsible for the same and had specifically stated that it did not want its materials shipped to Colorado.”

The company, Nerdy Nuts claims,  was told by The Kitchen Coop that it could not “pick up its materials and ingredients unless Nerdy Nuts paid the invoice, essentially preventing Nerdy Nuts from mitigating its damages and holding Nerdy Nuts’ materials and ingredients hostage.”

The lawsuit, which alleges fraud and civil thefts among a litany of other claims, is asking the court for unspecified compensatory damages and a return of all product held by the defendants. 

The lawsuit is Nerdy Nuts LLC vs. The Kitchen Coop LLC et al, case number 2025CV30027, filed Jan. 29 in Broomfield District Court.

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