Dave’s Gourmet LLC Considers Defamation Suit Against Pink Sauce Founder

Food company Dave’s Gourmet LLC is mulling a defamation lawsuit against Veronica Shaw, the founder of Pink Sauce, after Shaw alleged in a GoFundMe fundraising campaign that the company withheld business records from her and failed to pay her properly.

A recently updated statement from Dave’s Gourmet LLC claimed that Shaw had been given $161,449.37 since beginning their business partnership in August of 2022. The business released the details in response to what it calls an act of defamation, where Shaw started a GoFundMe calling them out called “Help Get Justice for the Pink Sauce.”

Shaw accuses Dave’s of not correctly paying her. Dave’s management has reported the fundraiser because she “is asking for funds under false pretenses.”

“We want other people to have factual information on this case prior to considering making a donation,” the company said, according to TheGrio. “We hope that people share the facts on social media about the sequence of events related to this matter so that Shaw can no longer spread misinformation about our company.”

According to Dave’s Gourmet, when it entered into an agreement with Shaw, it was responsible for digital promotions and was in charge of maintaining the product’s shelf life by making the formula commercial production-ready while adhering to FDA production guidelines.

Despite Shaw’s claim that the company didn’t uphold its end of the deal, Dave’s explained, “At the time, Shaw was not producing PS because FDA instructed her to cease all the production due to quality concerns (she was making PS in her kitchen and was shipping it without refrigeration in the heat of the summer and the sauce frequently went bad during shipping as evidenced by many social media posts from buyers).”

The company continued, “The sauce was not shelf stable and was not safe for shipping without refrigeration. There was huge negative publicity online and on social media due to the quality issues that Shaw had experienced. According to the agreement, Shaw received an upfront payment of $45,000 as a part of the Agreement for DG to pursue the sales of PS.”

Shaw had to supply refunds for all the items specified under the agreement. Dave’s even helped Shaw and her company, contributing $30,000 to cover reimbursement funds.

Even after helping, Dave’s claimed that Shaw rejected all offers to handle the tension between them amicably. Instead, she hit the company with “multiple million-dollar demands for Dave’s to continue selling Pink Sauce.”