Three major egg producers, Cal-Maine Foods, Versova, and Hickman’s Egg Ranch, have reached settlement agreements with the U.S. Justice Department and 17 states to resolve allegations of price-fixing. The companies will collectively pay $3.3 million and donate 53 million eggs to food banks and nonprofits.
Settlement Details
The settlement agreements, announced on Monday, require the companies to adopt antitrust compliance programs and ban communicating with competitors on pricing and bidding strategies. The donations of eggs will be made by the companies, with Cal-Maine donating 30 million eggs, Versova donating 20 million eggs, and Hickman’s donating 3.25 million eggs.
The investigation, led by New York Attorney General Letitia James, found that the companies had coordinated to artificially inflate the daily price quotations for eggs between June 2022 and March 2025. This led to higher prices for eggs sold to consumers, with average U.S. egg prices soaring to a record high of about $6.23 per dozen in March 2025.
The companies have not admitted wrongdoing under the settlements. However, the agreements will still need court approval. The Justice Department’s Omeed A. Assefi stated that the proposed settlements ‘resolve years of conduct that dragged on Americans’ finances and their everyday lives.’
Industry Impact
The settlement comes as the egg industry has faced challenges in recent years, including a bird flu epidemic that forced farmers to slaughter millions of egg-laying chickens. The epidemic led to a surge in egg prices, with critics accusing big companies of taking advantage of their market dominance.
Cal-Maine CEO Sherman Miller stated that the company’s settlement agreement ‘enables us to move forward so we can devote our full attention to what matters most: delivering affordable, high-quality eggs and egg-based prepared foods to consumers nationwide.’ However, some advocacy groups have expressed concerns that the proposed settlements are not enough, with Farm Action president Angela Huffman stating that ‘consumers paid record prices while dominant egg producers reported extraordinary profits, yet the result is another settlement that corporations can treat as the cost of doing business rather than meaningful accountability.’
Original reporting: Texarkana Gazette — read the source article.
