Quebec brewers sent cease and desist from Kellogg’s over Froot Loop beer

In this Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2009 photo, Kellogg's Froot Loops and Frosted Flakes cereals are shown in Marysville, Pa. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

A Quebec brewery’s popular Fruit Loops beer will no longer be sold after the company received a letter from the makers of the popular cereal.

Kellogg Canada sent Quebec brewer Farnham Ale & Lager a cease and desist letter telling them to stop making heir Froot Loop IPA.

Rather than being upsetting news to the brewer, located about an hour outside of Montreal, it was something they had been expecting for almost a month.

“We had a smile when we received it,” Farnham co-owner Jean Gadoua told CTVNews.ca. “How come it took so long?”

The beer, a New England IPA made with Froot Loops cereal, as well as oats and a blend of hops, give the beer a fruity taste. It was packaged in a colourful can complete with a toucan that looked just a little too close to the real thing for Kellogg’s.

“It’s our job to take care of our trademark, we do appreciate your love for froot loops, but please do not do so anymore,” co-owner Jean Gadoua told CTVNews.ca, paraphrasing the letter. “It’s just like ‘cmon guys, don’t do it anymore.’”

The beer came out of the brewery’s plan to attract a crowd for its opening day.

Why Froot Loops? “Probably [because] we’re too drunk – but the idea comes out and we start laughing and say ‘OK, let’s do it,’” Gadoua laughed.

While only four people came into the brewery that first day, but within 24 hours news of the beer had exploded on social media, and eventually caught the attention of the local media.

Farnham decided to do a can release at the brewery in January. All 1,200 cans sold out within 50 minutes.

Since then, Farnham has been receiving daily requests to make another batch of the beer.

“A funny day of brewing turned into a month of marketing,” Gadoua said.

After receiving the letter from Kellogg, Farnham posted it to Facebook to let fans of the beer know that it wouldn’t be coming back, no matter how much they ask.

“OK stop bugging us – we’re not allowed to redo it,” Gadoua laughed.

“We can certainly appreciate the love Farnham Ale & Lager and their customers have for the Froot Loops products,” a Kellogg spokesperson said in a statement to CTVNews.ca.

“We are proud of our brand and its heritage and, as such, are very committed to protecting the integrity of our trademarks and our intellectual property from unlicensed uses.”

Gadoua says that there are no hard feelings between the brewery and Kellogg’s, who he says isn’t looking to go to court. The brewery hopes they can collaborate with Kellogg’s in the future..

“We’re looking forward to another letter from Kellogg saying that they want us to brew their IPA with Froot Loop,” Gadoua laughed.