High Beef Prices Have Pushed McDonald’s To Sue The Country’s Largest Meatpackers
On today’s menu, McDonald’s is having legal beef with its suppliers (literally). The fast-food giant has joined a slew of firms in suing the nation’s top four meatpackers — Cargill, JBS, Tyson, and National Beef Packing. They’re accused of conspiring to inflate beef prices, which have nearly tripled since 2010, far outpacing inflation. This dramatic rise has hit McDonald’s particularly hard, as ground beef is crucial for their menu. Only recently has the chain pieced together evidence pointing to a possible price-fixing scheme orchestrated by these meatpacking giants.
- The lawsuits claim the meatpackers, who control over 80% of the US beef market, colluded to depress cattle prices while inflating beef costs — potentially costing buyers billions.
- An insider from JBS-owned Swift Beef Company has corroborated the allegations, confirming that the firms worked together to fix prices at both ends of the business.
McDonald’s is cooked: The timing couldn’t be more challenging for McDonald’s, as it grapples with an E. coli outbreak linked to its Quarter Pounders — which has reported 75 linked illnesses as of Friday. The company’s stock is still down 5% from the hit it took last week following the news, adding another layer of complexity to its beef-related woes. The company has also been struggling with declining sales — a sign that it might be losing appeal to both budget-conscious and higher-income diners.
