Olive Oil Feud: The Social Media Spat Between Graza and Brightland – The New York Times

This Week’s Tiniest Social Media Drama Is About Olive OilAn entrepreneur said a rival olive oil start-up ripped off his big idea.The Drizzle and the Sizzle: two types of Graza olive oil, in squeeze bottles, on a grocery store shelf.Credit…StaffApril 28, 2023, 9:22 a.m. ETImitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but not in the world of start-ups.There was drama this week in the olive oil business — and it unfolded on LinkedIn, the online haven of start-up feuds, oversharing and self-mythologizing odes to #founder culture.An angry post by the olive oil entrepreneur Andrew Benin caused a stir in a small corner of the internet food world, in part because it raised a slippery question: Who owns the squeeze bottle?Mr. Benin is the chief executive and co-founder of Graza, a direct-to-consumer start-up launched in 2022 that sells olive oil in squeezable, forest-green plastic bottles designed for optimal drizzling and Instagramming. Whole Foods sells it, Bon Appétit gave it a rave, and Food & Wine magazine called it a “cool kid olive oil.” As The Wall Street Journal noted this year, Graza struck a “sweet spot” in the market with its two extra-virgin olive oil bottles, the Drizzle ($20) and
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