On-trade

On the hunt for imitations

A Norwich city centre bar in the UK was fined over £16,000 for deceiving the public and for misusing the Jägermeister trademark on its in-outlet promotional material.

Norfolk’s Trading Standards office successfully took a case against the city centre bar for ‘passing off’ Jägermeister. The case has highlighted the need for greater awareness and education among both trade and consumers about the illegal practice.

Now, the Irish on-trade’s seventh-best-selling spirit brand is to work with licensees here to ensure that all the required trading standards are met and it’s calling on consumers to remain vigilant and demand that they’re served what they’ve ordered.

It’s doing this by recommending that consumers contact the National Standards Authority of Ireland or the Competition & Consumer Protection Commission if they experience any instances of passing off.

In the case of Jägermeister, one of the most popular herbal liquers in Irish bars, nightclubs and restaurants, passing off involves – more often than not – a lower quality imitation.

Mast-Jägermeister SE not only owns but has trademarked the intellectual property of the word ‘Jägermeister’ so any product sold under this name globally must be genuine Jägermeister product. This includes everything from menus, promotional flyers, POS or notices advertising the product.

“Practices such as ‘passing off’ damage the Jägermeister brand as well as that of the offending licensee who will build mistrust among their consumers,” pointed out the Head of Raw Materials & Manufacturing at Jägermeister Dr Finke, “We’re extremely lucky that the licensees we work with are responsible business owners and we’ll continue to work to ensure that we’re supporting them and increasing the education surrounding the ‘dos’ and ‘don’ts’ and their responsibility in this area in keeping with the law.  We would also advise members of the public to be aware of their consumer rights and not to accept an imitation product in the place of the real thing if they’re aware that this is happening.”

 


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