Barilla Canada – “ITALY’S #1 BRAND OF PASTA” – Class Action

Date of Initial Application: October 25, 2022

BARILLA CANADA INC. – QUEBEC CLASS ACTION AUTHORIZED

Short form Notice to Class Members

YOU HAVE NOTHING TO PAY

On August 26, 2024, the Superior Court of Quebec authorized the bringing of a class action against Barilla Canada Inc. (hereinafter “Barilla”) on behalf of the following Class:

All residents of Quebec who have purchased, at any time since October 24, 2019, Barilla Canada Inc.’s pasta products which were not produced in Italy and which bear the phrase “ITALY’S #1 BRAND OF PASTA” and “LA MARQUE DE PÂTES NO 1 EN ITALIE”, in juxtaposition or not of the Italian flag colors.

(hereinafter the “Class” or “Class Members”).

Plaintiff Mrs. Knafo was ascribed the status of representative to act on behalf of the Class Members.  She alleges in her action that the Class Members were misled by Barilla into believing that the Barilla pasta products sold in Quebec are produced in Italy with Italian-sourced ingredients, whereas the majority of the Barilla products sold in Quebec are produced in the United-States or Canada, with North American ingredients.

If the class action is successful, all persons in Quebec corresponding the Class mentioned above may be eligible to receive compensation, including without limitation a full or partial reimbursement of the purchase price paid and punitive damages.

The authorization judgment is a preliminary step which allows the class action to begin. This judgment does not decide the liability of Barilla, who will be able to assert its defenses at trial. It is following this trial, which will be held in the district of Montreal, that the Superior Court will decide whether Barilla has violated the law as alleged and whether Barilla must be ordered to pay something to the class members and, if so, in what amount.

As a Class Member, you do not have to pay for the attorney fees which will be paid from the damages that may be awarded through the class action, if applicable. The Court will be asked to decide the reasonableness of Class Counsel legal fees. In case of success, Plaintiff also asks the Court to condemn Barilla to pay her Class Counsel’s legal fees and expenses, in addition to the amount claimed for the Class Members. The Court may, however, also decide that such fees and costs will be deducted from the amounts owed to the Class, if any.

Relevant information concerning the progress of the class action:

In the context of the legal proceedings in this case, which will occur in the District of Montreal, the Plaintiff will ask the Court to determine:

a) Did Barilla make false or misleading statements, advertisements or representations, or did it carry out prohibited practices, in the sale and marketing of its pasta, given their place of production and the geographical origin of their ingredients?

b) Must Barilla reimburse the purchase price of the pasta, in whole or in part?

c) Should injunctive relief be ordered to prohibit Barilla from continuing to make such statements, representations, advertisements or prohibited practices?

d) Must Barilla pay punitive damages to the Class Member and in what amount?

If you wish to exclude yourself (opt out) from the class action and avoid being bound by the judgment which will be rendered, you must send a notice no later than May 22, 2025, by registered or certified mail to the clerk of the Superior Court of Quebec in Montreal (with a copy to [email protected]). The full procedure for opting out is explained in the Long Form version of the present notice.

If you wish to be included in the class action, you have nothing to do and nothing to pay. As a Class Member, you have the right to intervene in the present class action.

For more information on the class action:

Please visit the present webpage dedicated to this class action and please consult the Long Form (detailed) version of the present Notice which includes the full text of the principal issues / questions that the Court will be asked to deal with collectively and the list of orders that Plaintiff is asking the Court to issue once it has decided these questions.

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A Quebec-only Class Action has been authorized by the Superior Court of Quebec on August 6, 2024 – judgment available on this page.

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LEX GROUP Inc. has launched a Quebec class action lawsuit against Barilla Canada Inc. (hereinafter “Defendant” or “Barilla”) on behalf of Canadians who have purchased at least one of Barilla’s pasta products, which products were not produced in Italy but which bear the phrase “ITALY’S #1 BRAND OF PASTA” and/or “LA MARQUE de PÂTES No 1 EN ITALIE”, and/or which display the Italian flag colors on the front label of the packaging.

Barilla Canada markets, commercializes, distributes and sells its various well-known pasta products through many grocery stores across Canada, including Quebec. The class action proceedings allege that Barilla engaged in deceptive, misleading, false, and/or unfair advertising when labeling their pasta products as “Italy’s #1 Brand of Pasta” and/or displaying the Italian flag on its products in order to perpetuate the notion that they are made in Italy, which is not the case. Moreover, the proceedings allege the use by Barilla of deceptive and misleading claims in its marketing of pasta products.

Accordingly, if you have purchased one of Defendant’s pasta products, including but not limited to:

• the Barilla® Classic Blue Box Pastas,
• the Barilla® Collezione Artisanal Pastas,
• the Barilla® Gluten Free Pastas,
• the Barilla® Veggie Pastas, and/or
• the Barilla® Whole Grain Pastas,

then you may be part of the proposed Class defined by the class action initiated by our office.  Should you be defined as a member of the class, you may be entitled to compensation should the Court authorize and ultimately grant the class action, or should a settlement be reached (and approved by the Court).

Please fill out the form below if you wish to be kept informed of the progress of this case.

If you wish to be kept informed and/or receive notification of major judgments rendered or notices in this case, please complete the form below.  Please note that providing your information in the form below creates no financial obligation for you and it does not create a lawyer/client relationship between yourself and Lex Group Inc. (or any of its attorneys).  You will not be charged any fees or costs for signing up to this class action since our firm is only paid on a contingency basis from the potential compensation recovered in this file, if the class action is successful by way of final judgment or settlement approved by the Court.

Please be advised that the group definition of the people to be included in this class action may be changed or modified in the future by Court decision or by way of amendment filed by our firm.  We will not inform you or other members of the public if and when the group definition is changed.  It is therefore your sole responsibility to ensure that your own personal rights and recourses are being protected at all times during the course of these proceedings.  You may therefore wish to seek independent legal counsel in order to determine whether it would be in your best interest to pursue independent litigation in this matter (or any other matter), and to determine if you can potentially be included in this case if a final judgment is rendered or if a settlement is reached and approved by the Court.

By signing up to this class action, you are merely asking our firm to include you in our list of potential members in this class action, but our firm is not agreeing to represent your personal interests.  If a final judgment is rendered in this case, or if a settlement is reached (and approved by the Court), an e-mail may be sent to you and the relevant information may be posted on this website.  The Court will determine the manner and extent of any future notifications to class members.

Be advised that the information you provide will be included in our list of potential class members for this case, which list may be shared with and disclosed to the Courts and/or other parties in this action (at our discretion).  Rest assured that any such disclosure will be done in such a manner as to protect your personal information and confidentiality from unauthorized use, disclosure or publication.

Finally, be advised that the above-description and summary of the case is being posted on this website for your convenience.  However, in case of conflict between the information on this website and the actual proceedings, documents, and/or judgments in the Court record of this case, the official Court record documents will prevail.  We have for your convenience posted on this webpage certain scanned copies of the several relevant documents from the Court record, including the initial application for authorization to institute a class action which describes the case in much more detail.  You should therefore consult these documents as well as consult this website periodically in order to be kept informed.