Two companies have created a stink over a consignment of ruined garlic worth $2.5 million, a court was told yesterday.
Seapower Resources Cold Storage & Warehousing Ltd has launched a breach-of-agreement action against Assure Co Ltd seeking almost $790,000 in unpaid storage fees.
But Assure has also launched a claim, saying Seapower failed to store the garlic at minus-two degrees Celsius and was responsible for ruining it.
Seapower assistant general manager Lee Chun-kwok told the Court of First Instance yesterday that fruit and vegetable products were usually stored between zero and four degrees Celsius.
Written confirmation of special requirements was needed before any stock was stored differently, he said.
Mr Lee told Deputy Judge David Gill that after negotiations between the two companies between July and August 1996, Assure had failed to put its request for special cold-storage facilities into writing.
