On paper, Roxbury company has a case in federal court

A Newmarket Square company that makes frozen fillo pockets stuffed with vegetable and meat fillings says a supplier's paper boxes were so poorly made it lost a contract with Trader Joe's - and $1 million in profits.

In a suit filed yesterday in US District Court in Boston, Peppercorn Food Service charges Atlantic Packaging Corp. of Norwich, CT sold it crappy "ovenable" containers for a private-label line of frozen spinach pies that fell apart in Trader Joe's freezer sections:

As a result of the compromised packaging, the spinach pie packages shipped by Peppercorn to its principal customer, Trader Joe's, became wrinkled and degraded, which adversely affected their appearance to the consumer viewing the product in the Trader Joe's display cases and thus dramatically impacted the sales of the Trader Joe's spinach pie product.

Peppercorn says Trader Joe's was so put off by the problems with the boxes that it stopped buying the spinach pies from Peppercorn.

Peppercorn is demanding full reimbursement for the loss of the contract, double or treble damages and lawyers' fees.