VDF FutureCeuticals, Inc. has called foul on Sandwich Isles Trading Company for its coffee fruit processing methods.

FutureCeuticals believes the company (maker of KonaRed coffee fruit products) is infringing on its CoffeeBerry production technology, and thus filed a lawsuit against Sandwich Isles in Hawaii. FutureCeuticals says its patented technology was developed to preserve the antioxidants and phytochemicals of coffee fruit during harvesting and production.

In response, KonaRed issued a statement in which Steven Schorr, KonaRed chief scientific officer and co-founder said, “The differences between the materials are night and day. Our product is a thick dark red liquid extract made from red ripe fruit and contains no coffee beans, while the VDF patent is based on extracting a sub-ripe whole fruit. Their resultant product is a mustard yellow powder with characteristics that do not match the KonaRed product.”

Published in WholeFoods Magazine, August 2011