April 20, 2021 4:12 pm
A High Court case taken by Lidl Ireland seeking an injunction against the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) and its president Tim Cullinan, and vice-president Brian Rushe, is due to be discussed in court again in June.
Last Friday (April 16), Justice Senan Allen reserved judgement in the case taken by the supermarket retailer against the farm organisation and its officers over what it claims are ‘defamatory’ and ‘misleading’ comments.
Last month, the IFA and Lidl (as well as Aldi) got into a war of words over the labels those two retailers use on their milk.
On Sunday, March 14, the IFA ran an advertisement claiming that Lidl and Aldi labelled their milk in such a way to make it appear as though it comes from particular dairies or creameries, when those dairies and creameries didn’t exist.
SHARING OPTIONS:
The IFA has also lodged a complaint with the Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland against Lidl and Aldi over what it called their misleading brand strategy.
Lidl’s application for an injunction against the IFA, over the IFA’s campaign on fresh milk and other products sold by the supermarket, is listed for hearing this Friday.
On Monday, legal counsel for Lidl sought and was granted further time to submit a replying affidavit to the IFA.
On 19 March, Lidl launched legal proceedings against the IFA over an advertisement in the
Sunday Independent which highlighted that milk for sale in Lidl and Aldi which is branded Coolree Creamery (Lidl) and Clonbawn Irish Dairy (Aldi) came from non-existent dairies. Lidl described the IFA ad as defamatory.