In Armorica, an irreducible craftsman wants to resist against a global agribusiness giant.
It is not a magic potion in question, but beer.
The Belgian-Brazilian group AB InBev, world number one in beer and owner of the Leffe brand, asked the Breton micro-brewery Leff, in Côtes-d'Armor, to change its name to avoid creating "
confusion .
among consumers
”.
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"
The Leff name for a beer closely resembles our protected Leffe brand for beers as well
" and "
in pronunciation there is no difference between the two,
" AB InBev said in a statement received Wednesday.
"
The existence of two Leff and Leffe beers would create confusion among consumers and could mislead them,
" added the group, confirming information from the regional daily Ouest-France.
A written request was sent a few weeks ago to the micro-brewery, located in Lanleff, near Paimpol (Côtes-d'Armor).
For "
friends
" and "
locals
"
"
It's a bit incredible all that
", commented to AFP Philippe Le Saux, founder of the Leff artisanal brewery, named after a Breton river, tributary of the Trieux. “
I use the Leff water to make beer,
” said the 64-year-old brewer, who started making his beer last summer for “
friends
” and “
locals
”. "
It's service rather than anything else,
" assured Philippe Le Saux, who says he aims for a production of 1,500 bottles per month and has registered the brand of his beer at the National Institute of Intellectual Property (Inpi).
AB InBev, which owns 500 brands and claims 2 billion consumers worldwide, noted in its statement “
visual similarities in layout to our Leffe brand
,” with the craft brewery also using Gothic characters on its labels. "
AB InBev hopes that a solution will be found and awaits the evaluation of the French administration in charge of trademarks
", underlined the group. It recorded over the first nine months of the year 2021 a net profit of 3.9 billion dollars (3.4 billion euros) for a turnover of 40.1 billion dollars (35.4 billion euros).
Philippe Le Saux told AFP that he did not have the means to take legal action against the beer giant, known for its global brands Budweiser, Stella Artois or Corona.
“
In front of a trust like that, we cannot fight.
It is the Brittany region that must defend me
, ”he said.
