Egg Price-Fixing Settlement
U.S. Egg Producers Settle Price-Fixing Claims, Paying Millions and Donating Eggs
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Three of America's biggest egg producers will pay $3.3 million and donate 53 million eggs to settle federal price-fixing claims, the U.S. Justice Department announced. Reuters reported that Cal-Maine Foods, Versova, and Hickman's Egg Ranch were accused of secretly coordinating to drive up egg prices between June 2022 and March 2025 — a period when Americans watched egg costs soar to a record $6.22 per dozen.
The DOJ and 17 state attorneys general filed a civil lawsuit and proposed settlement on June 29, 2026, in federal court in Iowa. None of the three companies admitted wrongdoing. The cash penalties go to the states. The eggs go to food banks.
How Producers Allegedly Hatched a Pricing Scheme
The alleged scheme centered on a little-known industry tool called the Urner Barry index. Grocery stores and restaurants use this daily price benchmark to set egg contract prices. Prosecutors say the producers submitted fake bids to the index to create the illusion of higher demand — and push prices up artificially.
Internal messages tell a damning story. In December 2022, Glenn Hickman, CEO of Hickman's Egg Ranch, allegedly emailed rivals urging them to submit "strong bids, early and often" to lift prices. A Cal-Maine executive then texted Hickman: "we are bidding up. Let's hold it today," according to the Arizona Attorney General. Prices that were already high kept climbing — all the way to $6.22 per dozen by early 2025, per Bloomberg.
Bird Flu Was Real — But Regulators Say It Was Used as Cover
The companies have a ready defense: bird flu. A historic outbreak of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza forced farmers to kill millions of hens, cutting supply sharply. Cal-Maine CEO Sherman Miller called the price-fixing claims "baseless" and blamed the spike on "supply shocks" like avian flu.
But regulators say the producers used the bird flu crisis as a "pretext" to go further — coordinating supply cuts and index bids to ensure prices never fell even as supply began to recover. After the DOJ probe launched in March 2025, coordination stopped. Prices dropped from $6.22 per dozen to $2.19 by May 2026, according to Bloomberg.
53 Million Eggs Head to Food Banks Across the Country
The most visible part of the settlement isn't cash — it's eggs. The three producers will donate 53 million eggs, roughly 4.4 million cartons, to food banks and nonprofits nationwide. California gets the largest share at 8.9 million eggs. Texas receives 7 million, New York gets 4.9 million, Maryland gets 2 million, and Hawaii gets about 1 million, per the U.S. DOJ.
New York Attorney General Letitia James said, "When powerful corporations collude behind the scenes, working families suffer the costs." California AG Rob Bonta put it bluntly: "In California, we have zero tolerance for bad eggs." The $3.3 million in cash penalties — including $1.5 million from Cal-Maine and $1 million from Hickman's — goes directly to the 17 participating states.
Companies Face Strict Oversight but No Criminal Charges
The settlement still needs a federal judge's approval. Once finalized, all three companies must set up court-ordered antitrust compliance programs. They must hire compliance officers to monitor internal communications. They are strictly banned from discussing prices or bidding strategies with competitors, according to NPR.
Hickman's new owner, MTQ USA, which bought the family-run operation in 2025, said the alleged conduct happened before their takeover and the settlement "fully resolves" those claims. Versova said it was "pleased" to put the investigation behind it. No company faces criminal charges — only civil penalties and the compliance rules that will govern how they do business going forward.
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