Attorney General James Secures More Than 280,000 Eggs for New York City Families
Second Delivery of Eggs to New York City Food Banks After AG James’ Investigation into Price Fixing by Major Egg Producers
Food Banks Throughout the State Will Receive Over 4.9 Million Eggs; Over One Million Eggs Delivered to Date
NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James today announced the delivery of more than 280,000 eggs to Food Bank For New York City in the Bronx as part of a bipartisan multistate settlement with Cal-Maine Foods (Cal-Maine), Versova/Centrum (Versova), and Hickman’s Egg Ranch (Hickman’s) for years of price fixing. A multistate investigation led by the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) alongside the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and 16 other states revealed that Cal-Maine, Versova, and Hickman’s illegally coordinated to influence a daily price index for eggs. The investigation alleged that this coordination artificially increased prices for retailers and consumers throughout the country for years. Under a settlement with the states, the three egg producers will deliver 53 million eggs to food banks in the 17 participating states, including 4,968,000 eggs to New York. In addition to the egg deliveries, the companies will pay $3.3 million to the states and make changes to their practices to prevent future violations of the law. The delivery of 23,400 cartons of a dozen eggs to Food Bank For New York City is the fifth in a series of egg deliveries to food banks statewide and marks over one million eggs distributed so far.
“New York City families deserve fair prices for essentials at the grocery store,” said Attorney General James. “For years, corporate greed inflated the price of eggs as companies worked together to push prices and their profits even higher. After putting a stop to this, my office has secured millions of free eggs for New Yorkers, and more than one million eggs have already been delivered to food banks across the state. I thank Food Bank for New York City for their partnership to ensure New Yorkers in need receive these eggs.”
“We are grateful to the Attorney General for helping make this delivery possible," said Elizabeth Romano, Senior Director of Operations at Food Bank For New York City. "Eggs are an important source of protein and we’re pleased to help provide this nutritious food to families facing food insecurity across the five boroughs.”
More than 280,000 eggs delivered to Food Bank For New York City that will be distributed throughout New York City
Attorney General James and the coalition’s investigation found that beginning at least as early as 2022, these three major egg producers secretly coordinated their bidding strategies to influence the daily egg price quotes published by Urner Barry, a benchmark pricing service widely used in egg supply contracts. The companies submitted sham bids at artificially inflated prices to distort the market, then withdrew those bids, intentionally aiming to raise the Urner Barry price quotes. By manipulating the Urner Barry benchmark, the companies artificially inflated the price of eggs paid by retailers and consumers nationwide.
As a result of settlements with OAG and the coalition of states, the three companies will deliver a total of 53 million eggs to food banks and nonprofit organizations across the participating states and pay a combined $3.3 million. Under a separate settlement with DOJ and the coalition of states, the companies will also adopt compliance measures to prevent future illegal coordination. New York will receive 4,968,000 eggs, all of which will be distributed through Feeding New York, the statewide network overseeing New York’s food banks. With today’s delivery, more than one million eggs have been distributed to food banks in New York, including in Brooklyn, Rochester, Syracuse, and the Southern Tier. Deliveries statewide will continue through October.
Joining Attorney General James and DOJ in securing this settlement were the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Vermont, and Wisconsin.
For New York, this matter was handled by Assistant Attorneys General Isabella Pitt and James Yoon, Senior Enforcement Counsel Michael D. Schwartz, and Legal Fellow Amanda McBain of the Antitrust Bureau, and with the assistance of Assistant Attorney General John P. Figura of the Consumer Frauds and Protection Bureau, under the supervision of Bureau Chief Elinor R. Hoffmann and Deputy Bureau Chief Amy McFarlane. The Antitrust Bureau is part of the Division of Economic Justice, overseen by Chief Deputy Attorney General Christopher D’Angelo and First Deputy Attorney General Meghan Faux.