economy
Justice Department sues egg producers for manipulating prices
The Trump administration is taking aim at “Big Egg,” alleging that some of the nation’s largest egg producers illegally conspired to drive up consumer prices.
TL;DR
- The Justice Department and 17 states have sued major egg producers for allegedly conspiring to inflate consumer prices.
- The lawsuit accuses Cal-Maine Foods, Hickman’s Egg Ranch, and Versova Holdings of manipulating industry price benchmarks through coordinated bidding strategies.
- Executives allegedly used private communications to influence benchmark prices reported by Urner Barry, leading to record-high egg prices.
- Proposed settlements would prohibit communication about bidding, prices, and supply-and-demand, and require antitrust compliance programs.
- The alleged price manipulation occurred before the Justice Department opened an investigation in March 2025.