Egg producers settle DOJ price-fixing claims

The U.S. Department of Justice, together with attorneys general from 17 states, has filed a civil antitrust lawsuit against several of the nation’s largest egg producers, accusing them of conspiring to manipulate wholesale egg prices. The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa, targets Cal-Maine Foods Inc., Hickman’s Egg Ranch Inc., and Versova, which includes Centrum Valley Holdings LLC, Versova Holdings LLC, and Versova Management Cooperative.

The department filed proposed settlements pending court approval.

Those settlements would block these companies from coordinating price manipulation in the future. The defendants produce and sell eggs to grocery stores, restaurants and other businesses, and also bid for eggs on spot markets like the Egg Clearinghouse. The complaint alleges the egg producers conspired to inflate daily price quotations issued by Urner Barry Publications, a market reporting company whose indices set wholesale contract pricing for billions of eggs each year. They agreed to several tactics: causing multiple companies to bid at once to signal broad demand, submitting large numbers of bids just before Urner Barry published its prices, placing bids unlikely to result in actual trades, and executing spot trades at inflated prices to influence the benchmark.

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Egg price quotations dropped sharply from their peak.

The complaint notes this drop happened right after the defendants learned of the investigation and were told to preserve documents in March 2025. If approved, the settlements would bar the firms from communicating with competitors about bidding strategies, including prices, timing and the number of bids. They also can’t share certain bid, price, supply or demand information that might go to the benchmark publication. The rules forbid agreeing on bid numbers, pricing or other terms, and prohibit communications about bids or transactions not based on legitimate business needs or meant to affect a benchmark.

Beyond these restrictions, the producers must adopt formal antitrust compliance programs, appoint internal compliance officers, allow monitored oversight of cooperative and joint venture meetings, and immediately report any potential violations.

‘No product more quintessentially represents affordability’

Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward said: “No product more quintessentially represents affordability than the price Americans pay for eggs. These actions prove this Department’s continued commitment to protecting competition and providing real relief for everyday Americans’ pocketbooks.”

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Former Acting Assistant Attorney General Omeed A. Assefi added that the settlements resolve “years of conduct that dragged on Americans’ finances and their everyday lives.” Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole Sarrine said the settlements will “keep egg prices competitive and keep money in the hands of consumers across the country.”

Some consumer advocates have questioned the settlements.

They asked whether injunctions alone can deter companies from repeating such behavior, especially given the concentration of the egg industry. The DOJ did not say whether any of the producers admitted wrongdoing as part of the agreement.

Bipartisan coalition, next steps

The investigation involved a bipartisan coalition of states.

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The attorneys general joining the complaint include those from Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Vermont and Wisconsin.

The public has 60 days to submit comments.

Under the Tunney Act, the proposed settlements and competitive impact statements will appear in the Federal Register. The comments go to the Antitrust Division’s Chicago office before the court decides whether the final judgments are in the public interest.