Man behind expensive olive oil bottle furiously accuses rival company of COPYING his idea

An olive oil entrepreneur hit a slippery slope after accusing a rival of copying the design of his company’s squeeze bottle.

Andrew Benin, the CEO and co-founder of chic Graza brand, accused its oily competitor, Brightland, of being a copycat in an outspoken LinkedIn post.

“While friendly competition was always welcome, I consider this a blatant disrespect and choose to express my dissatisfaction,” Benin wrote while calling out and tagging the company, Brightland, and its founder, Aishwarya Iyer.

“Last week, a New Jersey fine food brand called our supplier in Spain to try and buy our exact bottle and the molds we made and paid for,” he explained.

Benin added a photo of the offending squeeze bottle in question, which markets itself as something to drizzle over pizza.

Graza has become a popular brand in recent years. Whole Foods now stocks the two products, and food magazine Bon Appétit offers a glowing review

Benin took to LinkedIn to name rival Brightland’s new olive oil, which was also packaged in a squeeze bottle and marketed as a measly pizza option

Benin summoned the founder of Brightland olive oil, Aishwarya Iyer

“#Founders know this day will come,” he wrote, adding, “Personally, I think it’s okay to get mad when people rip you off.”

While some Twitter users dubbed Benin’s post “the olive oil wars,” the spat was one-sided and neither Iyer nor Brightland commented on his accusations.

Benin’s post was not well received online with many commenting on his post calling him to account and accusing him of causing unnecessary drama.

Some pointed out that chefs and home cooks have been using squeeze bottles for decades, with even the FAQ section of Graza’s website confirming this fact: “Chefs have been using squeeze bottles in their kitchens for quite some time.”

Neither Brightland nor Iyer commented on Benin’s post mentioning their bottle design

Graza has become a popular brand in recent years. Whole Foods now stocks the products, and food magazine Bon Appétit offers a glowing review.

During the holiday season, Graza faced quality and shipping issues, which led to Benin writing a heartfelt email to over 30,000 customers.

His tone was very different during this week’s diatribe on his LinkedIn page in which he shouted “#copycat culture.”

Some online users defended Benin with Ju Rhyu, the CEO and co-founder of Hero Cosmetics saying in a tweet, “Get used to it… It means you achieve a certain level of success, if there are copycats. It’s something we’re definitely trying to defend ourselves against, but it’s not easy,” though she admitted his post was an “overreaction.”

A number of online users on LinkedIn criticized Benin for berating its competitor

This post is not good for anyone. Why not take others in the industry to the next level when you start posting instead of admonishing them? Especially a direct attack on a founder who is a woman of color,” Ben Kessler wrote. “Love Graza, have refilled several times but this leaves a bad taste in my mouth that a founder would treat a competitor like this.

“Andrew, with all due respect, you didn’t make the squeeze bottle. Chefs and home cooks have been using it for decades. Aishwarya Iyer makes wonderful olive oil and has been doing so for years before you started your business,” wrote sauce maker Alison Cayne.

‘Damn dude. This isn’t it. PS, my mom bought olive oil from a squeeze bottle in 2007 (and it wasn’t Graza),’ added Gabrielle Mustapich.

“This post isn’t strange at all — it’s really shocking. But more than that, it completely diminishes and takes away the *actual* moat that you and the team built,” said Kim Steifel.

Hours after his original statement, Benin posted a follow-up apologizing to Iyer and his own team in Graza.

Hours after his original statement, Benin posted a follow-up apologizing to Iyer and his own team in Graza.

‘I I want to apologize for letting my emotions get the better of me. I was heated and reacted poorly, and learned from the variety of comments everyone left today,” he wrote. “Thanks to everyone for being so candid and showing me that there was clearly a better way to go about all of this.”

“Aishwarya Iyer, I’m sorry to refer directly to you,” Benin declared in his lengthy mea culpa.

“As you can imagine, I am insanely passionate about protecting what our team has worked so hard to do. I am also sorry for our team in Graza. This was not in my character and there was no need to put so much negativity into our day.”

“Aishwarya Iyer, I’m sorry to refer directly to you,” Benin declared in his lengthy mea culpa