Big Spoon v. Smaller Big Spoon

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Good morning, readers.

Hillsborough’s Big Spoon Roasters, the local nut butter company that rose from farmers market favorite to national brand, is suing a California chili crisp maker using a near identical name.

It’s a sticky situation in a niche food space where both companies are dwarfed by industry giants. The trademark infringement suit against Big Spoon Sauce Co. seeks to stop the smaller company from using the “Big Spoon” name and demands they destroy all materials bearing the moniker—from jars of chili crisp to website content.

“It would destroy everything we have,” says Lani Chan, who co-founded Big Spoon Sauce Co. with her partner Nathan Bender in 2021. “We would be starting from scratch.”

The lawsuit takes several unexpected turns. It includes allegations that Chan and Bender’s conduct was “immoral, unethical, oppressive, unscrupulous, or substantially injurious to consumers.” Meanwhile, emails reveal Big Spoon Roasters’ plans to develop a chili-crisp-inspired nut butter while asking the Chinese American-owned sauce company to rebrand. Finally, Chan says that days before the lawsuit was filed, an order came in from a customer who appears to work at the firm representing Big Spoon Roasters.

Read the story below. Have a good Monday.

 —Lena

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Durham

The Durham Rescue Mission wants to expand its footprint in East Durham. At a community meeting last week, neighbors learned few details about the proposal, Cy Neff reports for the INDY.

After cuts to the U.S. Agency for International Development and the National Institutes of Health, slashing the Department of Veterans Affairs would be another big blow to Durham, and the Triangle, INDY’s Justin Laidlaw reports.

Wake

Thousands of people gathered in downtown Raleigh (and elsewhere) to protest the Trump administration’s tariffs and broad federal spending cuts, NC Newsline reports.

Orange

Citing “political disruptions,” the UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School has implemented a temporary hiring freeze, The Daily Tar Heel reports.

North Carolina

From WUNC: The state Court of Appeals sided with Jefferson Griffin, giving thousands of voters whose ballots he challenged 15 days to prove their eligibility or have their votes thrown out.

The state pension system has a $16 billion deficit, NC Newsline reports.

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