The Department of Justice is found in the early stages of investigating the main egg producers about high egg prices, Familia and Familia and the matter told ABC News.
Department researchers are investigating whether the main egg companies share information about supply and prices, possibly contributing to price increases, sources said. Egg producers, including the commercial association of the industry, have said that rising prices are due to avian flu.
The investigation is being depleted from the antimonopoolio division of the Department of Justice and will not necessarily lead to any legal action.
The Logo of the Department of Justice is seen before a press conference in the Department of Justice, on August 23, 2024, in Washington.
Mark Schiefelbein/AP
Last month, a group of Democratic legislators, including Senator Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. called to Administration To provide details on how to reduce food prices for families.
“To make food more affordable, you should search the dominant food and edible companies that have obtained record gains behind working families who have had to pay higher prices,” they wrote in the letter to President Donald Trump. “These companies often exploit crises such as pandemics and sprouts of avian flu as an opportunity to increase prices beyond what is necessary to cover the growing costs.”
Egg prices have doubled since January 2024, and they have shot during the last year. Wholesale buyers, such as small businesses, paid more than $ 8 for a dozen eggs last week. The last report of the Department of Agriculture Launched on Friday He said the national wholesale price of eggs had fallen significantly to $ 6.85 per dozen.
Emily Metz, president and executive director of American Egg Board, which represents egg producers throughout the country, said that any suggestion that egg price increases are due to the fact that the increase in prices is a “bad reading of facts and reality.”
“Do not be mistaken. Egg producers are price makers, not price manufacturers, in the egg market, and that market is responding to uncertainty and avian flu chaos,” he said. “The eggs are subject to the economic laws of supply and demand. The supply of tight eggs caused by avian influenza, along with 23 consecutive months of high volume of sales, has created a perfect storm in egg markets.”
A sign alerting customers of an increase in egg prices hang inside a Bagel store in the New York district, on February 27, 2025.
Shannon Stapleton/Reuters, file
Farm Action, a farm defense organization that has publicly requested officials who open an antimonopoly case, said in a statement on Friday citing Fuentes in the DOJ that the agency had begun an investigation.
“We applaud the action of the Department of Justice to address the shooting price of eggs,” he said. “All Americans have felt the financial pain caused by the power of the monopolistic industry of the egg.
“While avian flu is real, it is not an excuse for the price charged in the grocery store for one of the country’s basic products,” he added. “While Farm Action analysis probably demonstrates antitrust abuses by egg -producing dominant corporations, the Department of Justice has the legal authority to immerse the depth in the industry that is required to reach the bottom of this abuse, and have the power to bring justice on behalf of the US people.”
The egg industry has consolidated throughout the decades, with Cal-Moine Foods emerging as the largest producer of US eggs. UU. And it is one of the few companies that are quoted in the stock market, having acquired other brands. He has reported increasing profits of the increase in egg prices, and his actions have won around 50% in the last 12 months. The next four larger egg producers have a private property, so their financial data is not public.
Cal-maine could not be contacted to comment.
In 2023, Cal-Maine lost a jury trial and had to pay millions about a price set scheme.
The eggs are on sale in a grocery store in Lyndhurst, New Jersey, on February 4, 2025.
Ted Shaffrey/AP, file
“Egg producers and groceries can take advantage of the current flu outbreak as an opportunity to further restrict the supply or increase egg prices to increase profits,” Warren wrote also to Trump in January.
“The largest egg producer in the country, Cal-maine, reported a significant leap in gross profits between the first and second quarter of fiscal year 2025 while walking for the price of eggs,” he added.
“The CEO of Cal-Maine acknowledged that the company’s highest net income is reflected for Q2 ‘[s] Higher market prices, which have continued to increase this fiscal year as the shell egg supply levels have been restricted. Translation: The Egg Company and its shareholders are getting greater profits, while Americans disburse more for basic foods, “Warren wrote.
-ABC News’ Luke Barr contributed to this report.
