Amy’s Kitchen sues potato distributor, alleging debris in shipment

Jan. 22--Amy's Kitchen is seeking more than $1.5 million from an organic produce distributor over a 2014 shipment of potatoes the White City processor said contained dangerous debris.

According to court documents filed in U.S. District Court on Medford Monday, Amy's Kitchen, Inc. and its insurance company are suing Merrill-based Stukel Mountain Organics, LLC and Klamath Falls-based Malin Potato Cooperative, Inc. over what they allege to be "highly unusual and unprecedented" amounts of glass, plastic, paper and metal debris found in the shipment.

The suit stems from a December 2014, bulk order of 27,000 pounds of organic potatoes purchased from Stuckel Mountain Organics and sent to Amy's Kitchen's production facility in White City. The suit alleges that during the course of emptying the bins of potatoes for processing, and after some of the potatoes had already been processed into soup, Amy's employees discovered pieces of glass, plastic, paper and metal debris at the bottom of shipping bins the potatoes were shipped in.

The court documents say that at least one potato had embedded metal, and that most of the debris was found at the bottom of the bins, so it wasn't visible until after the bins were emptied.

"The type and amount of debris discovered was highly unusual and unprecedented in Amy's experience," the documents allege.

Because of the "substantial" amount of dangerous debris in the shipment, Amy's stopped production at the White City facility, destroyed finished food products containing the potatoes and destroyed the remainder of the potato shipment, according to documents.

Amy's claimed in the court document that the damage is in excess of $1.5 million. Amy's Kitchen's insurance company, Houston Casualty Company, paid Amy's a portion of the loss relative to a policy covering the company from malicious tampering and accidental contamination. Houston Casualty Company is a co-plaintiff with Amy's in the suit.

The documents claim that it was the responsibility of the Stukel Mountain Organics and Malin Potato Cooperative to inspect the bins and ensure debris was removed prior to placing the potato order.

Susan Grelock , Amy's Kitchen senior communications manager, said that all products made with the potatoes were destroyed and never released, so no product recall was necessary.

A summons in the suit was filed electronically against Stukel Mountain Organics and Malin Potato Cooperative in federal court Wednesday. Jim Carleton, identified on a filed Amy's Kitchen supplier contract as the president of Stuckel Mountain Organics, declined to comment on the case.

Reach reporter Nick Morgan at 541-776-4471 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @MTCrimeBeat.

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