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Discovery Begins and Trial Date Set in EcoArk Holdings and Zest Labs’ $2 Billion Lawsuit Against Walmart
Discovery Begins and Trial Date Set in EcoArk Holdings and Zest Labs’ $2 Billion Lawsuit Against Walmart.
About this update from Riskon International, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"\nSAN JOSE, Calif., Oct. 23, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Zest Labs™, an AgTech company modernizing the post-harvest fresh food supply chain, today announced that a trial date has been set and discovery has begun in its lawsuit against Walmart in federal court in Arkansas. The court’s scheduling order sets trial in the case for June 1, 2020 and includes a schedule for discovery. The claims against Walmart in this case include breach of contract, violation of the Arkansas Trade Secrets Act, violation of the Federal Defend Trade Secrets Act, unfair competition, unjust enrichment, breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing, conversion, and fraud. The damages at issue exceed $2 billion.\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Zest Labs\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n “We are pleased that the claims in Zest Labs’ complaint are proceeding to discovery and that the court has set the case for trial in June 2020,” stated Peter Mehring, Zest Labs CEO. Zest Labs has developed innovative solutions such as Zest Fresh, which is proven to reduce field to shelf food waste by 50 percent or more while improving delivered freshness to consumers. The data and insights provided by Zest Fresh also help growers, food distributors and retailers reduce the $85 billion problem of fresh food waste. Zest Labs is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ecoark Holdings, Inc. (OTCQX: ZEST), to be renamed Zest Technologies, Inc. Zest Labs engaged with Walmart to demonstrate the value of Zest Fresh to reduce waste and improve delivered shelf life consistency. During this time, Zest Labs proprietary information and trade secrets were shared with Walmart under a mutual Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA). In late 2017, after in depth access to and reviews of Zest Lab’s solution, technology and approach, Walmart informed EcoArk and Zest Labs that it would not license or deploy Zest Fresh. In March 2018, Walmart publicly announced Eden to, “keep track of food freshness all the way from the farms to our stores,” and would, “eliminate $2 billion in waste over the next five years.” The discovery process in this case will allow Zest Labs and its lawyers to gain access to documents held by Walmart that will shed light on activities inside of Walmart that lead to the lawsuit and will provide documentation to...