Key Takeaways
Cal-Maine Foods, Versova/Centrum, and Hickman's Egg Ranch will donate 53 million eggs and pay $3.3 million to food banks to settle claims they coordinated to inflate egg prices.
A coalition of 16 state attorneys general and the U.S. Department of Justice found the producers manipulated the Urner Barry price index from June 2022 to March 2025.
The eggs go to food banks at the companies' expense as demand for fresh protein keeps climbing at pantries nationwide.
Three of the country's largest egg producers have agreed to donate 53 million eggs and pay $3.3 million to food banks to settle allegations that they coordinated for years to push up the price of eggs, attorneys general announced on June 30.
The deal resolves a bipartisan investigation by 16 states and the U.S. Department of Justice into Cal-Maine Foods, Versova/Centrum, and Hickman's Egg Ranch. Investigators found that from roughly June 2022 to March 2025 the companies secretly coordinated their bids to move the daily egg quotes published by Urner Barry, a benchmark used across egg supply contracts. In one December 2022 email cited by investigators, a Hickman's executive urged competitors to submit strong bids early and often to push the quotes higher.
What the companies agreed to
Under the settlement, the three producers must stop coordinating, appoint antitrust compliance officers, and cooperate with state and federal oversight. The 53 million donated eggs will be supplied at the companies' expense to food banks and nonprofits across the participating states, and all of them must meet food safety standards. Vermont alone will receive about 915,000 eggs and $56,000.
"They rigged the system and took money out of Vermonters' pockets."
Charity Clark, Attorney General, Vermont
The timing matters because eggs are one of the hardest items for food banks to keep in stock. Demand for fresh protein has risen as grocery prices stay high, and the donation arrives as pantries brace for a summer surge. WYDE has tracked that strain in its coverage of the summer hunger gap facing millions of children, and this case joins a recent run of accountability actions alongside the record health care fraud takedown earlier this month. The most notable part is where it lands, enforcement that ends with food on shelves rather than only a check to the government.
People Also Ask
Who settled the egg price-fixing case?
Cal-Maine Foods, Versova/Centrum, and Hickman's Egg Ranch settled with a coalition of 16 state attorneys general and the U.S. Department of Justice.
How many eggs will go to food banks?
The companies will donate 53 million eggs nationwide, supplied at their own expense, plus a combined $3.3 million to the participating states.
How did the companies allegedly raise prices?
Investigators say they coordinated their bids to influence the Urner Barry daily price index from June 2022 to March 2025, which lifted the prices retailers and shoppers paid.
What happens to the companies now?
They must end the coordination, appoint antitrust compliance officers, cooperate with oversight by the states and the DOJ, and report any future violations.