Three major producers agreed to a $3.3 million settlement and pledged compliance measures after authorities said they coordinated communications to inflate a widely used egg pricing benchmark.
U.S. antitrust enforcers said three large egg producers agreed to pay $3.3 million to settle allegations that they illegally coordinated for nearly three years to inflate a daily egg price index that is widely used in supply contracts. The Justice Department and 17 state attorneys general said Cal-Maine Foods, Versova and Hickman's Egg Ranch secretly communicated from about June 2022 to March 2025 to influence egg price quotes published by Urner Barry, artificially increasing prices for consumers and retailers. The proposed settlements, which require federal court approval, would also impose antitrust compliance programs and compliance officers. Cal-Maine and Versova denied wrongdoing and said bird flu, inflation and other market pressures were the main drivers of higher egg prices. Authorities said egg price quotes fell significantly from their peak after the companies learned of the investigation in March 2025.