Egg producers settle — will supply 53 million eggs and pay $3.3M

New York Attorney General Letitia James said three major egg producers will provide 53 million eggs to food banks and pay $3.3 million to states under a multistate settlement over alleged price fixing. The agreement covers Cal-Maine Foods, Versova/Centrum and Hickman’s Egg Ranch, which federal and state investigators said coordinated to influence benchmark egg prices between June 2022 and March 2025. The companies must also adopt compliance measures and cooperate with oversight by the states and the U.S. Department of Justice. ### Which companies settled, and what did they agree to do? The June 29 settlement announced by James and the Justice Department requires Cal-Maine, Versova and Hickman’s to donate eggs at their own expense to food banks and nonprofit groups in participating states. The three companies will also pay a combined $3.3 million to the states and make changes to their business practices to prevent future violations, according to the New York attorney general’s office. (ag.ny.gov) The Justice Department said the agreement still must be approved in court. Federal and state officials said the settlement is designed to stop the companies from communicating with competitors to influence egg prices. ### What were investigators accusing the producers of doing? State and federal investigators said the companies secretly coordinated bidding activity tied to daily egg price quotations published by Urner Barry, a benchmark pricing service widely used in egg supply contracts. (ag.ny.gov) The complaint said that by submitting bids intended to move those quotations higher, the producers created the impression of stronger demand and pushed up prices paid by retailers and consumers nationwide. (cbsnews.com) A December 2022 email cited by James’s office said Hickman’s chief executive urged executives at Versova and Cal-Maine to submit “strong bids, early and often” to raise prices. James said the conduct hurt consumers and businesses, while Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole Sarrine said the settlements would help keep egg prices competitive. ### How much of the settlement is eggs, and why eggs instead of only cash? (ag.ny.gov) The headline number is 53 million eggs, which are to be distributed through food banks and community organizations in the states that joined the case. The settlement also includes $3.3 million in payments to the states, but the egg deliveries are the larger practical component of the agreement. (ag.ny.gov) CNBC, citing the then-current average retail price of about $2.19 for a dozen large Grade A eggs, estimated the donated eggs could be worth roughly $9.7 million at retail. That comparison is an estimate, not a term of the settlement, but it shows the scale of the in-kind relief. ### Why did this case land amid broader concern about egg prices? Egg prices became a consumer and political flashpoint after avian flu outbreaks cut into U.S. poultry flocks. (ag.ny.gov) CBS News said a carton of large Grade A eggs averaged $6.23 in March 2025 before falling to about $2.19 by late June 2026, citing Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis data. AFP, in a report carried by Yahoo Finance, said poultry farmers culled 26 million birds as avian flu spread through the industry. (cnbc.com) The same report said a dozen eggs in New York City reached an average of $8.47 in February 2025, citing a U.S. Department of Agriculture note. ### Where are the eggs going first? New York said it will receive 4,968,000 eggs under the settlement, and James announced on August 3 that the first 280,280 eggs had been delivered to City Harvest in Brooklyn. (cbsnews.com) Her office said that shipment amounted to 23,400 cartons of a dozen eggs and would be distributed across New York City. City Harvest Chief Executive Jilly Stephens said the delivery would help more than 20,000 New Yorkers in need. (finance.yahoo.com) AFP reported that additional New York deliveries are scheduled through October, while the other participating states are Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Vermont and Wisconsin. (ag.ny.gov) ### Did the companies admit wrongdoing? Cal-Maine denied wrongdoing and called the allegations “baseless,” according to CBS News. Versova said it was pleased the Justice Department investigation had been resolved without any finding of or admission of wrongdoing, while Hickman’s did not immediately respond to CBS’s request for comment. The next steps are court approval of the proposed settlement and continued deliveries to food banks in participating states. (ag.ny.gov) In New York, James’s office said shipments are already underway and will continue through October. (cbsnews.com)