Frigaliment Importing Co. v. B.N.S. International Sales Corp.

Facts

Frigaliment Importing Co., Ltd., a Swiss corporation, bought chicken from B.N.S. International Sales Corp., a New York sales corporation, under two contracts dated May 2, 1957. Each called for US Fresh Frozen Chicken, Grade A, Government Inspected, Eviscerated, in two weight classes, 2½-3 lbs. and 1½-2 lbs., wrapped and packed for export. The negotiations ran through Stovicek, in New York for the Czechoslovak government at the World Trade Fair, and the seller's secretary, Bauer; the cables between the parties were mostly in German but used the English word “chicken.” When the first shipment reached Switzerland, Frigaliment found that the 2½-3 lbs. birds were stewing chicken, which it called “fowl,” not young birds suitable for broiling and frying, and it protested. B.N.S. nonetheless shipped under the second contract, the heavier birds again being stewing chicken, and then stopped the transportation of those heavier birds at Rotterdam.

Issues

1. Did the contracts use “chicken” in the narrower sense of young birds suitable for broiling and frying, or in the broader sense of any bird of that genus meeting the specifications?
2. Did Frigaliment sustain its burden of persuasion that the narrower meaning applied?

Holding

Frigaliment did not sustain its burden of persuasion that the contracts used “chicken” in the narrower sense, so the complaint was dismissed with costs.