King’s Hawaiian rolls are from L.A., but Oakland woman’s suit alleging deception is tossed out

An Oakland woman’s contention that King’s Hawaiian misleads consumers about the Hawaiian-ness of its sweet rolls was dismissed Monday in court.

A “reasonable consumer” would not believe the rolls are made in Hawaii with traditional Hawaiian ingredients, Northern California District Judge Phyllis Hamilton said in granting the motion to dismiss the complaint.

Dieisha Hodges of Oakland and Roxanne Colamarino of Maspeth, N.Y. — each described in the complaint as  “a sophisticated food consumer” — had brought a putative class action case alleging that the packaging of King’s Hawaiian rolls is misleading.

Their main points are that the package includes the phrase “Est. 1950, Hilo, Hawaii” and a crown logo that they say resembles the crown of a pineapple. “Plaintiffs believed the Product is currently made in Hawaii. Further, plaintiffs believed that the Product contained ‘Hawaiian ingredients,’ including pineapple juice, honey, and sugar,” the suit said.

They added that the Hawaiian connection was played up by the King’s bakery float “The Aloha Spirit” that was part of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade from 2016 to 2018. It depicted a volcano that spewed confetti.

The judge’s ruling points out that the package gives the manufacturer’s current location as the Los Angeles suburb of Torrance and lists ingredients that do not include pineapple or honey.

Among the precedents she cited are complaints about the packaging of Maille mustard (a reference to its founding in Paris in 1747) and Olympia beer (an image of a waterfall that was once the source of the brewery’s water).

Hamilton’s order gave the plaintiffs 28 days to amend the complaint if they wish to pursue the case.

One of their attorneys, Spencer Sheehan, specializes in lawsuits alleging misleading advertising or packaging of food items, having filed hundreds in recent years, an NPR profile said.

Last month, he was in the news because of a $5 million suit in which his client alleged there aren’t enough strawberries in strawberry Pop-Tarts.