Egg‑price antitrust probe

The U.S. Justice Department is preparing a civil antitrust case against major egg producers over alleged price coordination, according to reports published April 17. (reuters.com) Reuters, citing The Wall Street Journal, reported that likely targets include Cal-Maine Foods and privately held Versova, and that prosecutors are examining whether producers coordinated through a shared price-benchmarking service. Cal-Maine shares fell nearly 3% in extended trading after the report. (reuters.com) The case would be civil, not criminal, and it would grow out of an investigation that was already public by April 2025. Cal-Maine said then that it had received a civil investigative demand from the Justice Department in March 2025 and was cooperating. (reuters.com) Egg prices became a national inflation story during the 2024-25 bird-flu wave. The U.S. average retail price for a dozen Grade A large eggs hit a record $6.23 in March 2025, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data summarized by the Congressional Research Service. (congress.gov) Bird flu did cut supply. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said highly pathogenic avian influenza was still affecting domestic birds and dairy cattle as of January 20, 2026, and USDA market reporting said more than 30 million laying hens had been lost in 2025 by April of that year. (aphis.usda.gov, thepoultrysite.com) The antitrust question is whether companies merely reacted to a shortage or used shared market data to move prices together. Expana, one of the market-information firms cited in coverage of the probe, markets egg price assessments and forecasts as benchmark tools for the industry. (reuters.com, expanamarkets.com) Cal-Maine has said high prices reflected supply disruption from avian flu, not collusion. In its April 8, 2025 results, the company said its net average selling price rose to $4.06 per dozen from $2.25 a year earlier and tied market prices to egg shortages caused by the outbreak. (reuters.com) Outside groups have pushed the opposite case. Farm Action said this week that dominant egg firms maintained production while increasing prices and profits, and it urged antitrust enforcers to press ahead. (kfgo.com) Cal-Maine matters because it is the largest producer and distributor of fresh shell eggs in the United States, according to the company. A case against it and other big producers would test how far antitrust law reaches when a food staple spikes during a disease-driven supply shock. (calmainefoods.com) Egg prices have since fallen sharply from the March 2025 peak, but the legal question now is whether part of that run-up came from coordination rather than scarcity alone. The next step is whether the Justice Department actually files the civil suit it is reported to be preparing. (usda.gov, reuters.com)