Major egg producers settle price inflation probe for $3.3 million

The U.S. Department of Justice and 17 state attorneys general reached a $3.3 million settlement with three of the nation's largest egg producers for alleged price manipulation that "artificially increased" egg prices for consumers and retailers, the coalition said Monday.

The egg producers — Cal-Maine Foods, Versova and Hickman's Egg Ranch — "illegally coordinated" over nearly three years to inflate a daily price index for eggs, the coalition alleged, citing the results of an investigation into egg-price collusion that began more than a year ago.

The allegations of collusion come amid an affordability crunch among U.S. consumers and as inflation has risen at its fastest pace in more than three years.

Egg prices became a poster child of sorts for high inflation in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In February 2023, for example, average retail prices for a dozen large Grade A eggs had spiked 150% from a year earlier, the largest annual change on record, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

At the time, economists had pointed largely to a historic and deadly outbreak of bird flu, which killed millions of egg-laying chickens and crimped egg supply.

In sepa

Fuente original: CNBC Top News (https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/30/egg-producers-settle-price-inflation-probe-for-3point3-million.html)