Victory for French manufacturers: Aldi loses litigation for "champagne sorbet"

A champagne ice cream must not be called “champagne” if it does not taste like champagne.

After years of litigation up to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) over the ice cream “Champagne Sorbet” formerly sold by Aldi Süd, French champagne manufacturers have prevailed against the German supermarket chain based in Mülheim before the Munich Higher Regional Court.

According to the judgment, the naming of the frozen ice took advantage of the reputation of the protected designation of origin "Champagne".

The judges see this as misleading, as stated in the decision published on Thursday.

Relevant for the judgment: The sorbet did not taste like champagne.

The French plaintiffs argued that the dominant aroma was pear, "followed by sugar, citric acid and a touch of alcohol".

The 29th Senate also came to the conclusion that the Aldi product “did not have a taste that was mainly caused by the champagne ingredient”.

The last point was discussed extensively in the course of the process - because a tasting was no longer possible due to the expiration date in 2014.

The OLG did not name the plaintiffs and defendants, but the Civic champagne association had made the process public.

The dispute had occupied four courts over the past nine years: the Munich Regional and Higher Regional Court, the Federal Court of Justice and the European Court of Justice.

A protected designation of origin

The ECJ set the decisive criterion in 2017: According to this, the name of a food violates a protected designation of origin "if the food does not have a taste as an essential property that is mainly caused by the presence of this ingredient in its composition".

The Aldi sorbet did contain champagne, but that alone was obviously not enough to guarantee the required champagne aroma.

The OLG did not allow a revision, since the BGH and the ECJ had already dealt with the case and the question of taste.

The lawyers of the successful champagne association see a signal effect for similar cases: "This also applies to other popular terms that are protected as geographical indications or designation of origin," said lawyer Carola Onken from the Munich law firm Klaka.

Aldi Süd did not initially comment.