Marianne and Zeb own and operate a gourmet foods delicatessen and licenced café-bar called “Epicureans”. Zeb has a love of all foods, but especially French cheeses and wines. Marianne is also a gourmand, but she prefers Italian prosciutto and salami, German sausages, mustards, and sauerkraut. In the evenings, they serve their customers sharing plates with a selection of choice foods from their shop. They also regularly cater for special events and have wedding party bookings for almost every Sunday in the next 12 months.
Inside the shop, some of the goods are displayed on shelves and are easily accessible to customers. Hand baskets are provided to enable customers to select desired goods for purchase. Some of the other items are stored in a glass fronted, refrigerated cabinet with their prices noted in large black numbers on signs next to them. Freshly baked breads, speciality wines and liquors, and a variety of coffee beans are kept in the shelves behind the counter.
On a recent day time visit to Epicureans, Filipa picked up one of the shopping baskets provided and began selecting some goods from the shelves. After placing some items into her basket, she made her way to the refrigerated cabinet to look at all the cheeses and other small goods. She spent almost 10 minutes discussing options with Zeb. After much deliberation, Filipa finally decided to buy some German sausages. She also wanted to buy some German bread and French brie. She pointed to the last dark rye loaf and said: “I’d like that one thanks”.
Just as Filipa said this to Zeb, Marianne came over to them and said: “Sorry but we cannot sell that loaf. I promised it to one of our regular customers this morning and said she could collect it on her way home from work this evening”. Zeb apologised to Filipa and said the bread she wanted was no longer available. He suggested she select another loaf. Filipa insisted that as she was in his shop right now, Zeb should sell her the bread she had chosen.
Question 1 (250 words)
Is there a contract between Zeb and Filipa for the sale of the loaf that Filipa selected? Use the above facts and relevant case/s from the prescribed reading materials to explain your answer.
Question 2 (250 words)
How would your answer change if the facts were different as explained below?
The bread was not promised to another customer and Marianne did not make any comment. Instead, Zeb had wrapped up the bread and put it in Filipa’s reusable shopping bag. Just as Filipa was about to tap her credit card to pay for all her goods, she said: “Actually, I have changed my mind. I want to take the white sourdough baguette instead of the dark rye”.Chat Conversation EndType a message…