Snoop Dogg is confronting Walmart, claiming the grocery giant tried to “suffocate” his cereal brands by hiding them in warehouses.
The rapper, whose legal name is Calvin Broadus, and Broadus Foods co-founder Percy “Master P” Miller filed a lawsuit against Walmart and Post Foods on Tuesday, accusing the companies of “interference.” I woke you up.
The rappers’ lawyers claim that their cereal brand Snoop Cereal was “deliberately stored in the inventory room of a Walmart store and was coded as ‘do not specify’ and could not be placed on store shelves.” Ben Crump made the claim in a statement. He spoke last year on behalf of the Tire Nichols family.
They approached Post Brands about a partnership the brand had entered into to sell their products at major retailers such as Target and Kroger, but the deal was incomplete as Post Brands refused to sell the brand outright. He claims that it was something.
“However, despite agreeing to the partnership, Post allegedly sabotaged Snoop Cereal’s success by preventing Snoop Cereal from reaching consumers through fraudulent practices, particularly at Walmart.” he said in a statement.
The brand hit store shelves on July 15, 2023, and “immediately became a huge success as people scrambled to find and buy the cereal,” the rappers said.
After several months, customers and fans could not find the brand.
Broadus and Miller said that although the cereal appeared to be “sold out” in stores, Walmart employees delivered several boxes of the breakfast entree that “had been stipulated not to appear on store shelves.” He said he found the box in the inventory room and that the box “had been sitting in the back room for several months.” ” states the lawsuit, which was viewed by The Post.
“Essentially, Snoop Dogg and Masters refused to sell Snoop Cereal all over the place, so the Post [a] “This is a false arrangement that could potentially exclude Broadus Foods from the market and thereby prevent competitors from selling or manufacturing Snoop Cereal,” Crump said.
The brand was founded in 2022 as one of the first high-profile Black-owned cereal companies, with the pair’s vision of “adding diversity to the grocery store industry and creating opportunities for minority-owned foods and brands. “By doing so, they sought to stimulate economic empowerment,” the complaint states.
The lawsuit, filed in Minnesota, alleges that Walmart charged stores that shelved the product as much as $10 per box to “force Broadus Foods off the market.”
Often the boxes were also placed in the baby section rather than in the cereal aisle.
The musicians are accusing the brands of “egregious conduct” and are seeking financial damages from Walmart and Post Brands for breach of contract, fiduciary duty, and negligent misrepresentation.
“These backroom deals by the defendants are unacceptable. If Post and Walmart can do something like this to popular businessmen like Snoop Dogg and Master P, they can’t tolerate families without the ability to protect themselves. “We would do the same thing for companies that are managed or owned by minority shareholders.” He read the lawsuit.
The company currently sells the cereal on Amazon for $5.99.
Walmart issues vague statement to Billboard“We value our relationships with our suppliers and have a strong history of supporting entrepreneurs.Many factors influence sales of a particular product, including consumer demand, seasonality, and price.” We plan to respond appropriately to the court once the complaint is received.”
Post Brands has not responded to the lawsuit, but issued a statement to the Post.
“Post-Consumer Brands is excited to partner with Broadus Foods and has made a significant investment in this business,” the company said in a statement. “We were equally disappointed that consumer demand did not meet expectations.”
