Hispanic cheese war erupts over Cacique's secrets.

Local firm claims Belgian rival stole proprietary info

Officials at a local cheese-making company are trying to shoo away a big mouse they say is threatening to take a sizable bite out of the company's business.

City of Industry-based Cacique Inc. (pronounced ca-see-kay) is suing Belgium-based Artal N.V. and its U.S. subsidiaries for allegedly stealing the company's trade and marketing secrets.

"In order to enter into competition with Cacique ... the defendants have staffed their new Hispanic-style cheese operation with former Cacique employees possessing knowledge of Cacique's proprietary business information and trade secrets, (and) have solicited and/or hired away existing Cacique employees," the suit states.

The defendants have also "contacted and solicited (the) plaintiff's former and existing customers, distributors and brokers in an effort to induce them to become distributors for defendants' products and discontinue selling plaintiff's products," according to the suit.

"The lawsuit is totally without merit," said Mike Cramer, a spokesman for Stella Cheese Co., a U.S. subsidiary of Artal. He added that a response to the lawsuit would be filed within a few weeks.

Cacique, which had $60 million in sales during 1992, is a Hispanic-owned company that primarily specializes in making Hispanic cheese but also makes other dairy products and some Hispanic specialty meat products as well. More than 90 percent of the company's 200 employees are Hispanic.

Artal is a big cheese in comparison. It is a privately held food company with operations worldwide and estimated annual revenues in the billions of dollars, said George Salmas, the attorney representing Cacique in the suit. Among its U.S. subsidiaries are Stella Cheese Co. Inc., Gardenia Foods Co. and Invus Group Ltd. Artal and these subsidiaries are all named as defendants in the suit.

All these entities were allegedly involved in the decision to steal trade secrets from Cacique, said Salmas.

Also named as defendants are five Cacique ex-employees. Cacique's former director of marketing and regional sales manager plus a former packaging department worker are all believed to be current employees of Stella Cheese, Salmas said.

Furthermore, Cacique's packaging manager is now believed to be employed with either Stella Cheese or Gardenia Foods, and Cacique's operations manager is believed to be providing consulting services to Stella Cheese, Salmas said.

All the defendants are being sued for allegedly disclosing trade secrets to the competition, Salmas said.

Stella Cheese, which until now has never made Hispanic cheese, sent out a press release during May announcing it was going to enter the Hispanic cheese market for the first time, Cramer said. The company announced it plans to produce the cheese at a new plant in Tulare, Calif. The facility is set to open next week, he said.

Cacique alleges in the suit that the defendants "are utilizing and intend to utilize plaintiff's confidential and proprietary business information and trade secrets" in its efforts to make the cheese.

Stella Foods has no such plans, said Cramer.

Cacique has "decided to publicize and test this lawsuit through the media" and is "afraid of the competition" that Stella Cheese would provide, he added.