DOJ charges three egg suppliers

The U.S. Justice Department and 17 states filed a civil antitrust complaint on June 29 accusing Cal-Maine Foods, Versova Holdings and Hickman’s Egg Ranch of coordinating bids in the spot market for shell eggs to raise a benchmark used across the industry. The government said the conduct ran from June 2022 to March 2025 and affected daily egg price quotations published by Urner Barry, a pricing service whose benchmarks are tied to wholesale egg sales nationwide. The June 29 filing matters because it puts names to the “three major egg suppliers” cited in early reports about the case. The defendants are Cal-Maine Foods, the largest U.S. egg producer, Versova Holdings and Versova Management Cooperative, and Hickman’s Egg Ranch, according to the Justice Department’s case page and proposed judgments. (justice.gov) The government’s case is civil, not criminal. The Justice Department said it reached proposed settlements with the companies that would require them to stop coordinated benchmark manipulation and comply with conduct remedies, while also paying money and making egg donations. ### Which companies did the government accuse? (justice.gov) Cal-Maine Foods, Versova and Hickman’s Egg Ranch were named as defendants in the complaint filed in federal court on June 29. The case caption on the Justice Department site lists the United States and 17 states as plaintiffs. Seventeen states joined the federal government in the case: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Vermont and Wisconsin. (justice.gov) The complaint and proposed final judgments were posted on the Justice Department’s antitrust case page. ### What does the government say they did? (justice.gov) The Justice Department said the companies unlawfully coordinated their bidding in spot-market egg sales to “artificially inflate” daily price quotations published by Urner Barry. Those quotations are important because billions of eggs are sold at prices tied to them, according to the department and reporting on the settlements. (justice.gov) The alleged conduct lasted from June 2022 through March 2025, according to the complaint described by the Justice Department and other reports. The department also said quotations fell significantly from their peak after the defendants learned of the investigation and were told in March 2025 to preserve documents. (justice.gov) ### How large is the proposed settlement? The proposed settlement calls for $3.3 million in payments and the donation of 53 million eggs to food banks and other charitable organizations, according to CNBC and ABC’s report of the government announcement. The agreements also impose conduct restrictions aimed at preventing future coordination around benchmark pricing. (justice.gov) Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward said in the Justice Department release that egg prices are central to household budgets, and former Acting Assistant Attorney General Omeed A. Assefi said food affordability is a priority for the Antitrust Division. The department framed the settlements as relief tied to everyday grocery costs. (cnbc.com) ### Where does Cal-Maine’s $320 million figure fit in? The Financial Times, cited in follow-on coverage, reported that the family behind Cal-Maine reaped about $320 million after selling part of its controlling stake near a record high in April 2025. That sale came weeks after federal investigators began probing the alleged scheme, according to summaries of the report. (justice.gov) Cal-Maine had previously disclosed that it received a civil investigative demand from the Justice Department in March 2025 in connection with an antitrust investigation into possible anticompetitive conduct among egg producers. That disclosure appeared in later trade reporting on the company. (msn.com) ### What happens next in court? The proposed final judgments were filed on June 29 in the federal case and are subject to review under the Antitrust Procedures and Penalties Act, often called the Tunney Act. The Justice Department posted the complaint, stipulations and proposed judgments for Cal-Maine, Hickman’s and Versova on its case page. (foodprocessing.com) The next public step is the court review of those proposed settlements. The case materials dated June 29, 2026, including the complaint and each defendant’s proposed final judgment, are available through the Justice Department’s antitrust docket. (justice.gov)