SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – A feud is boiling between a Bay Area bakery and Central Valley bread company over a lawsuit and hundreds of plastic bread trays.
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On Monday, Athens Baking Company, based in Fresno, filed a lawsuit against South San Francisco wholesale bakery Pacific Coast Baking, alleging that the company has been "stealing" bread trays, the Mercury News first reported.
"We're not talking about isolated incidents – we're talking about the ongoing, systematic theft of hundreds of bread trays … enough to fill a semitrailer," the lawsuit stated.
Athens Baking Company is accusing the South San Francisco bakery of purposefully taking the trays to "cut costs, boost expenses for Athens and gain a competitive advantage," the newspaper said.
According to the suit, Pacific Coast Baking owner Bill Esposto denied the accusations, saying he did not know why his company was allegedly in possession of the trays. Instead, Esposto claimed his delivery drivers were repurposing trays that other companies threw away. "We put them back in the system," he said, the newspaper reported.
But Athens Baking Company is not buying Esposto's version of events. "These are blatant lies," the suit stated.
In a phone interview with the newspaper, Esposto said he too has been missing trays. "They get mixed up," he explained. "I'm missing thousands of trays just like they are… We do not advocate that our drivers take any trays. We're not out there following trucks around stealing trays. I'd like to know where my 3,000 trays are. They're out there somewhere."
As a result of the turmoil, Athens is seeking $45,000 in damages and a court order to stop Pacific Coast from "trafficking" the bread trays.
KCBS Radio has reached out to both Athens Baking Company and Pacific Coast Baking for comment, but has not yet heard back.
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