BusinessJun 30, 2026
Inside the Alleged Scheme That Inflated Egg Prices Nationwide
Antitrust Enforcement
Rhea Lobo
Discover
The Department of Justice and 17 state attorneys general reached a proposed settlement with three of the country's largest egg producers over allegations they coordinated to inflate egg benchmark prices from June 2022 to March 2025.
The companies, Cal-Maine Foods, Versova, and Hickman's Egg Ranch, will collectively donate 53M eggs to food banks and pay $3.3M to participating states.
Cal-Maine agreed to pay $1.5M and donate 30M eggs. Hickman's agreed to pay $1M and Versova $800K.
The DOJ alleged the companies secretly coordinated bids submitted to Urner Barry, a market-reporting firm whose daily egg-price quotations serve as a benchmark for supply contracts across the industry.
By flooding the system with inflated bids, often right before Urner Barry set its daily price, the producers made demand appear stronger than it actually was.
Executives communicated by phone and text, urging each other to post "strong bids, early and often," according to the WSJ.
Because egg contracts are widely tied to that benchmark, an inflated quotation translated directly into higher prices for grocery stores, restaurants, and consumers.
The DOJ noted that price quotations dropped significantly after the companies learned of the investigation in March 2025.
Beyond the eggs and cash, the proposed settlement bars the three companies from communicating with competitors about bids, pricing, supply levels, or any transactions that could influence published benchmarks.
Each firm must also appoint an antitrust compliance officer and establish a formal compliance program.
The settlement still requires approval from a federal judge after a 60-day public comment period.
"These settlements resolve years of conduct that dragged on Americans' finances and their everyday lives," said Omeed Assefi of the DOJ Antitrust Division.
All three producers pointed to bird flu as the primary driver of elevated prices during the period in question. The outbreak has killed roughly 200M US chickens, turkeys, and egg-laying hens since 2022, according to the Agriculture Department, and pushed retail egg prices to a record $6.23 per dozen in March 2025.
Prices have since fallen sharply. A carton of large Grade A eggs now averages $2.19 as bird flu cases have subsided and producers have rebuilt their flocks.
