California almond producer arbitrates ICC claim in Paris against German manufacturer of industrial pasteurization equipment

Client(s) California almond producer

Jones Day represented a major California almond producer, processor, and distributor in a dispute against the German manufacturer of a cutting-edge industrial pasteurization system that failed to work as claimed by the manufacturer’s agent. The almond producer commenced an ICC arbitration against the manufacturer after years of poor performance by the pasteurization system resulted in an unacceptable level of physical damage to the processed almonds, as well as bacterial contamination. After a one-week hearing in Paris, the arbitrator issued a split award, finding in favor of the almond producer on its claims that the pasteurizer’s defective design created a sanitation hazard and that the manufacturer had failed to support the erection and testing of the system, including through the provision of faulty and incomplete engineering drawings and technical information.