Breakfast in America: Egg producers agree to give away 53M eggs in price fixing settlement
Millions of free eggs will be distributed across 17 states as part of a legal settlement with three egg producers accused by the Department of Justice of price fixing. (Photo by GMVozd/Getty Images)
More than a dozen states will receive millions of free eggs as part of an unusual legal settlement with three egg producers accused by the Department of Justice of price fixing.
Legal experts said the unusual remedy faces a logistical hurdle of making sure that those eggs reach the American people, who have been paying higher egg prices.
“There are huge administrative problems with making sure that a settlement of this nature goes according to plan,” Katherine Speegle, an antitrust lawyer and a partner at Duane Morris, told Fortune.
The egg producers will give 53 million eggs to be doled out by nonprofits and food banks to consumers for free and pay $3.3 million to the plaintiff states as part of the settlement, according to Fortune.
States already have begun to distribute the eggs, including Texas, which will give 7 million to local food banks, according to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Arizona and North Carolina have announced similar distribution plans.
The DOJ and 17 states settled a lawsuit in June alleging that three major egg producers—Cal-Maine Foods, Versova and Hickman’s Egg Ranch—illegally colluded to inflate the price of eggs, which reached record heights last year, according to Fortune.
None of the producers admitted to wrongdoing and maintained that they acted legally.
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