Washington D.C. — Following last week’s settlement between the U.S. Department of Justice, 17 state attorneys general, and three dominant egg producers accused of coordinating to inflate wholesale egg prices, the American Economic Liberties Project is calling for a congressional hearing:
“For years, American families paid record prices for eggs and were told it was just the avian flu. This settlement proves what many suspected: it was a cartel,” said Nidhi Hegde, Executive Director at American Economic Liberties Project. “The public deserves to hear the egg CEOs answer for their conduct under oath, and the DOJ leadership deserves to explain why they resolved a billion-dollar price-fixing scheme for a rounding-error payment. Americans are entitled to the truth. Congress must hold hearings.”
Public hearings would give Americans the modicum of corporate accountability they deserve. Congress should have the opportunity to question the CEOs directly, examine the Urner Barry benchmark manipulation mechanics, and hold DOJ leadership accountable for a settlement that fails to deter future cartels.
“The facts alleged in the Cal-Maine case should have resulted in criminal charges against participants in a bid rigging scheme that raised egg prices for families nationwide,” said Lee Hepner, Senior Legal Counsel at American Economic Liberties Project. “The penalty is a slap on the wrist, no admission of liability, and a requirement that egg producers monitor themselves for compliance with the law. The settlements in RealPage, Agri Stats, and now Cal-Maine reinforce a pattern of leniency toward the most egregious examples of price-fixing.”
“When egg prices reached record highs during the pandemic, concerns that the marketplace might be rigged were met with scorn from the highest profile commentators in our political system,” Hepner continued. “You can’t pee on our legs and tell us it’s raining. It’s no wonder why people are losing faith in their institutions. Meanwhile, a $3.3 million cumulative fine against companies who made billions in profit by hiking prices on consumers is a rounding error, not accountability.”
The DOJ’s complaint alleges that Cal-Maine Foods, Versova, and Hickman’s Egg Ranch coordinated their bids to electronic egg exchanges in order to artificially inflate benchmark prices in daily price quotations issued by Urner Barry, a firm that provides market pricing data on eggs. As alleged, those daily price quotations are “inseparable” from the prices for eggs paid by grocery stores and restaurants, and ultimately by consumers. The alleged scheme lasted from 2022 through 2025, during which American consumers paid record prices for eggs.
The settlement requires the three defendant egg producers to pay $3.3 million in cumulative payments and donate millions of eggs to food banks, and establishes compliance measures subject to self-monitoring by the egg producers. The settlement also releases the companies from all claims, allowing them to deny wrongdoing.
This is the fourth major settlement in less than a year by the DOJ, whose third-in-command reportedly instructed staff to avoid antitrust trials, raising serious questions about how dominant firms are being held accountable.
“When the federal government’s approach to antitrust enforcement is to avoid litigation in exchange for payments that amount to a fraction of the profits at stake, dominant corporations get the message: keep doing what you’re doing,” Hepner added.
During the alleged price-fixing scheme, egg prices spiked to record highs, first in 2022 and then again in 2025. This reflects how cartels behave in commodity sectors with boom and bust cycles. Rather than steady price increases, prices spike during supply shocks, like during disease epidemics or droughts, and then settle at a permanently higher floor because consolidated industries exploit disruptions to provide cover for coordinated price increases. In 2025, egg prices only began to decline after news of the DOJ investigation into egg price-fixing leaked.
American Economic Liberties Project news release
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