3 million eggs will be donated to food banks in North Carolina by Cal-Maine Foods, Hickman's Family Farms and Versova. This comes after a settlement was reached with Attorney General Jeff Jackson, 16 other attorneys general, and the United States.
In total, food banks across the country will receive about 50 million eggs. Distribution will be developed in the coming weeks.
The settlement discussed allegations that the egg producers violated antitrust laws by manipulating the information that helps set egg prices in the United States.
“These egg producers worked together to game the system so they could charge more for eggs. That’s against the law,” said Attorney General Jeff Jackson. “This settlement makes sure they can’t rig the market anymore, and food banks in our state will get millions of eggs to help feed people who are hungry.”
An investigation was set into the the three egg producers in early 2025. According to the complaint, the three egg producers worked together between 2022 and 2025 to share information and coordinate on bids to manipulate the standard price of eggs. The price did see an increase across the industry as the companies used artificial bids to do so.
For example, in December 2022, the CEO of Hickman's emailed Versova and Cal-Maine executives and urged them to submit "strong bids, early and often" to push the standard higher. This led to the standard increasing as all three companies submitted dozens of bids at higher prices.
The price of eggs is typically tied to industry standards, which grocery store and restaurants purchase. Then consumers purchase in stores at a price that is closely related to industry standards.
Under the settlement, all three companies must end their illegal coordination to manipulate price benchmarks, adopt compliance measures to prevent future violations, and fully cooperate with oversight by the states.
Attorney General Jackson is joined in reaching the settlement by the U.S. Department of Justice and the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Flordia, Hawaii, Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Vermont, and Wisconsin.
For more information on the settlements, see the direct copies here.
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