Close Menu
Influential MagazineInfluential Magazine
  • Home
  • Latest News
  • Entrepreneurs
  • Business
  • Finance
  • Leadership
  • More
    • Web Stories
    • Editor’s Picks
    • Press Release

Subscribe to Updates

Get the latest business and finance news for entrepreneurs all around the world.

What's Hot
Plastic Spoons, Umbrellas, Violins: A Guide to What Americans Buy From China

Plastic Spoons, Umbrellas, Violins: A Guide to What Americans Buy From China

May 24, 2025
Are You Smarter Than a Billionaire?

Are You Smarter Than a Billionaire?

May 22, 2025
Wedding Belles Love Expands with Size-Inclusive, Same-Day Bridalwear Boutique

Wedding Belles Love Expands with Size-Inclusive, Same-Day Bridalwear Boutique

May 22, 2025
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
Influential MagazineInfluential Magazine
SUBSCRIBE
  • Home
  • Latest News
  • Entrepreneurs
  • Business
  • Finance
  • Leadership
  • More
    • Web Stories
    • Editor’s Picks
    • Press Release
Influential MagazineInfluential Magazine
Home » U.S. Investigates Egg Producers Over Soaring Prices

U.S. Investigates Egg Producers Over Soaring Prices

March 8, 20254 Mins Read Business
U.S. Investigates Egg Producers Over Soaring Prices
Share
Facebook Twitter Reddit Telegram Pinterest Email

The Justice Department is in the early stages of investigating major egg producers in the United States over possible antitrust violations as the price of eggs skyrockets, two people familiar with the matter said.

The department’s lawyers are preparing to send civil investigative demands — effectively subpoenas for civil investigations — to several producers, including Cal-Maine Foods and Rose Acre Farms, one of the people said. Investigators are looking at whether the companies are sharing sensitive information about pricing and supply, contributing to a spike in prices.

The inquiry is being run out of the antitrust division’s Chicago office, the people said.

A spokeswoman for the Justice Department declined to comment on the investigation. Cal-Maine and Rose Acre did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment. The Capitol Forum earlier reported the inquiry.

Egg prices began soaring last year, and they quickly became an issue in the presidential campaign. Producers have blamed the spread of avian flu, which has forced them to cull millions of hens, for tighter egg supplies and prices that have surpassed $8 a dozen in some areas.

The Justice Department’s inquiry may not lead to a lawsuit. Some lawmakers and advocacy groups previously called for federal regulators to investigate the industry’s pricing practices.

Roughly 15 percent of the country’s egg-laying chickens have been killed in the past four months, while wholesale egg prices have risen 255 percent, according to data from Expana, which tracks the prices of eggs.

The five largest producers, including Cal-Maine and Rose Acre, control roughly half of the egg market in the United States. Cal-Maine, which is publicly traded and controls about a fifth of the market, reported an 82 percent jump in revenues for the quarter that ended in late November, to $954 million from $523 million a year earlier. The surge was “primarily driven by an increase in the net average selling price of shell eggs as well as an increase in total dozens sold,” the company said.

But others say the industry may be limiting supplies, forcing prices higher.

“Egg producers and grocery stores may leverage the current avian flu outbreak as an opportunity to further constrain supply or hike up egg prices to increase profits,” a group of Democratic lawmakers, led by Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, said in a letter to President Trump in January.

In a letter sent on Feb. 12 to the Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department, Farm Action, a group that opposes corporate monopolies in food and agriculture, called on the agencies to look into potential monopolization and anticompetitive coordination in the industry. Losses from culling have been “relatively modest” in relation to the size of the U.S. egg-laying flock, the group contends, while profit margins among producers have soared.

United Egg Producers, the industry’s trade association, placed the blame for soaring prices squarely on the severity of the avian influenza outbreak. After the industry lost more than 40 million egg-laying hens in all of 2024, 31 million were killed in just the first two months of this year as the virus accelerated, the group noted.

The highly pathogenic disease is “single-handedly responsible for the dramatic instability and losses in the nation’s egg supply,” Chad Gregory, the group’s chief executive, said in a statement.

In past outbreaks, Mr. Gregory said, a farm hit by the virus could typically recover in three to six months. In the current outbreak, however, the legally required recovery process can take more than a year.

“The onslaught of new cases has compounded the problems for egg farms’ ability to recover,” he said, “and it will take time to restore the nation’s egg supply.”

Emily Metz, the chief executive of the American Egg Board, echoed those sentiments in a statement. “To suggest that higher egg prices are the result of anything other than bird flu is a misreading of the facts and the reality,” she said.

Egg producers have been found liable in the past for controlling prices by restricting the supply. In 2011, major food companies including Kraft and General Mills sued the biggest egg producers and industry groups, claiming that they had colluded to reduce the supply to increase prices. The case went to a jury, which found in 2023 that the egg producers had unlawfully inflated prices. The producers were ordered to pay $17.7 million in damages, a figure that under antitrust law was tripled to $53 million.

Last year, under former President Joseph R. Biden Jr., the Justice Department’s antitrust division began staffing its Chicago office to investigate potential antitrust violations in agriculture.

To address record-high egg prices, the Agriculture Department said in February that it was looking into importing more eggs and increasing funding for efforts to combat the spread of avian flu.

Agriculture and Farming Antitrust Laws and Competition Issues Avian Influenza Cal Maine Foods Inc Chickens Eggs Fees and Rates) Prices (Fares Rose Acre Farms Inc United Egg Producers
Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Telegram Reddit Email
Previous ArticleTrump Organization Sues Capital One for Closing Its Accounts
Next Article How Dan Bongino Would Run the F.B.I., According to Dan Bongino

Related Posts

Plastic Spoons, Umbrellas, Violins: A Guide to What Americans Buy From China

Plastic Spoons, Umbrellas, Violins: A Guide to What Americans Buy From China

May 24, 2025
Are You Smarter Than a Billionaire?

Are You Smarter Than a Billionaire?

May 22, 2025
Markets Head Lower in Wake of Concerns About U.S. Debt

Markets Head Lower in Wake of Concerns About U.S. Debt

May 19, 2025
Video: How Staffing Shortages Have Plagued Newark Airport

Video: How Staffing Shortages Have Plagued Newark Airport

May 17, 2025
Consumers Show Signs of Strain Amid Trump’s Tariff Rollout

Consumers Show Signs of Strain Amid Trump’s Tariff Rollout

May 15, 2025
Inside Elon Musk’s X Feed: Trumpism, Falsehoods and Lots of Love for Elon Musk

Inside Elon Musk’s X Feed: Trumpism, Falsehoods and Lots of Love for Elon Musk

May 15, 2025
Add A Comment

Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

Demo
Stay In Touch
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • Vimeo
Don't Miss
Plastic Spoons, Umbrellas, Violins: A Guide to What Americans Buy From China

Plastic Spoons, Umbrellas, Violins: A Guide to What Americans Buy From China

By News RoomMay 24, 2025

Photo Illustration by Zak Bickel/The New York Times; Photographs via Getty; Unsplash Tariffs are up.…

Are You Smarter Than a Billionaire?

Are You Smarter Than a Billionaire?

May 22, 2025
Wedding Belles Love Expands with Size-Inclusive, Same-Day Bridalwear Boutique

Wedding Belles Love Expands with Size-Inclusive, Same-Day Bridalwear Boutique

May 22, 2025
Markets Head Lower in Wake of Concerns About U.S. Debt

Markets Head Lower in Wake of Concerns About U.S. Debt

May 19, 2025

Subscribe to Updates

Get the latest business and finance news for entrepreneurs all around the world.

About Us
About Us

Influential Magazine is one of the top news portals about Business and Finance news for Entrepreneurs and leaders all around the world, follow us for more intersting articles and news.

Our Picks
Markets Head Lower in Wake of Concerns About U.S. Debt

Markets Head Lower in Wake of Concerns About U.S. Debt

May 19, 2025
Video: How Staffing Shortages Have Plagued Newark Airport

Video: How Staffing Shortages Have Plagued Newark Airport

May 17, 2025
Father and Son Duo Launch PlayZer Media to Support Southern England’s Grassroots Music Scene

Father and Son Duo Launch PlayZer Media to Support Southern England’s Grassroots Music Scene

May 16, 2025
Trending Now
Inside Elon Musk’s X Feed: Trumpism, Falsehoods and Lots of Love for Elon Musk

Inside Elon Musk’s X Feed: Trumpism, Falsehoods and Lots of Love for Elon Musk

May 15, 2025
World Economic Forum Investigating Allegations Against Founder Klaus Schwab

World Economic Forum Investigating Allegations Against Founder Klaus Schwab

May 15, 2025
A.I. Was Coming for Radiologists’ Jobs. So Far, They’re Just More Efficient.

A.I. Was Coming for Radiologists’ Jobs. So Far, They’re Just More Efficient.

May 14, 2025
Influential Magazine
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram LinkedIn
  • Home
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
  • Terms & Conditions
© 2025 Influential Mag. All Rights Reserved.

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.