The U.S. Department of Justice and attorneys general from 17 states accused Cal-Maine Foods, Hickman's Egg Ranch, and Versova of coordinating to influence benchmark egg prices, leading to inflated costs for retailers and consumers. The scheme allegedly involved manipulating bids submitted to Urner Barry, a market reporting company whose daily quotations serve as a benchmark for the egg industry. Specifically, the companies were accused of agreeing to submit numerous bids, often at higher prices and sometimes unlikely to result in executed trades, particularly in the hours leading up to Urner Barry's price quotation publication. This created a false impression of higher demand, causing the benchmark prices to rise.
The settlement, which awaits court approval, requires the egg producers to donate more than 50 million eggs to food banks and community organizations in participating states and pay a combined $3.3 million to these states. Of the 53 million eggs, approximately 4.9 million are designated for New York. The companies must also cease their illegal coordination, implement compliance measures to prevent future violations, and appoint antitrust compliance officers to monitor and report any infractions.
Cal-Maine, the nation's largest egg producer and distributor, denied any wrongdoing, calling the allegations "baseless" and attributing price volatility to the bird flu and COVID-19 pandemic. Versova also denied violating antitrust laws, citing the bird flu as a driver of prices and stating that most of its eggs are sold on grain-based contracts. Hickman's Egg Ranch, now part of a joint venture, stated the alleged conduct predated its acquisition. The Justice Department noted that egg price quotations dropped significantly after the companies became aware of the investigation in March 2025.
