Arizona Food Bank Receives 183,600 Eggs in Settlement Over Alleged Price-Fixing

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes announced Aug. 17 that 17 pallet loads of eggs were delivered to a regional food bank as part of a federal and multistate settlement over alleged price-fixing by egg producers.Cal-Maine Foods delivered the equivalent of 183,600 eggs to the Yuma Community Food Bank—the first delivery following the June 30 settlement.The Yuma Community Food Bank is one of four regional food banks in the Arizona Food Bank Network. The others are St. Mary’s Food Bank, United Food Bank, and Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona.Together, they distribute large donations to more than 1,000 smaller organizations statewide.On June 29, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a civil antitrust lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa against three major egg producers—Cal-Maine Foods, Versova/Centrum and Hickman’s Family Farm—alleging they conspired to fix prices.Seventeen states, including Arizona, joined the federal investigation and enforcement action.“Many Arizonans are struggling to make ends meet because of illegal tariffs, inflation, and corporate greed,” Mayes said in a statement.“When major egg producers engaged in illegal price-fixing that drove prices up even further, my office stepped in to stop them. This delivery is proof that when companies break the law and drive up costs for Arizonans, we will hold them accountable and get real relief for Arizonans.”Mayes said the eggs will go to food banks, food pantries, and other partner agencies in Yuma and La Paz counties.On June 30, Mayes announced the settlement after the bipartisan investigation found Cal-Maine Foods, Versova/Centrum, and Hickman’s Egg Ranch illegally coordinated to manipulate a daily egg price index.From June 2022 to March 2025, according to the investigation, the companies coordinated bids to influence benchmark prices published by Urner Barry, a pricing service widely used in egg supply contracts.Mayes said Hickman’s CEO emailed Versova and Cal-Maine executives in December 2022, urging them to submit “strong bids, early and often” to push prices higher.The companies then submitted dozens of higher bids, prompting Urner Barry to raise its price quotes, Mayes said.“Arizonans have had to pay more for household staples due to illegal tariffs and rising inflation,” Mayes said in a statement. “But now we know that some price increases, like those affecting eggs, were the result of illegal price-fixing by major egg producers.”The companies artificially inflated egg prices paid by retailers and consumers nationwide, Mayes said.Under the settlement, the companies agreed to donate more than 53 million eggs to food banks and nonprofits in participating states and pay the states a combined $3.3 million. They also agreed to end the coordination, adopt compliance measures, and submit to state oversight.In an email to The Epoch Times, Cal-Maine said it “cooperated fully” in the comprehensive review process and “denies all wrongdoing and violations of law.”The company said “such claims are baseless” and that its “conduct was lawful, appropriate and in the best interest of supplying eggs to the marketplace.”“Cal-Maine further maintains that the Company’s communications cited in the complaint—which were made primarily by a single former employee—did not impact egg prices in any market,” it said.The Epoch Times reached out to Versova/Centrum and Hickman’s Egg Ranch for comment but received no response by publication time.Participating states in the legal action included California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Vermont, and Wisconsin.