Three of the nation’s largest egg producers will pay $3.3 million and donate 53 million eggs to settle allegations that they secretly colluded to inflate prices, a scheme that drove up grocery bills for New York consumers and businesses during a period of record-high egg prices.
The settlement, announced by the U.S. Justice Department and 17 state attorneys general, requires Cal-Maine Foods, Versova, and Hickman’s Egg Ranch to end price-manipulation tactics, adopt compliance measures, and fully cooperate with state oversight. The New York Post reported that the settlement includes 4.9 million eggs designated for food banks and organizations serving New Yorkers.
New York Attorney General Letitia James, whose office co-led the bipartisan investigation with the DOJ, said the probe revealed that executives at the top egg producers had been in communication with each other to inflate the daily egg price index between June 2022 and March 2025. A December 2022 email caught Hickman’s CEO urging Versova and Cal-Maine executives to submit “strong bids, early and often” to boost the cost of the grocery staple.
“When powerful corporations collude behind the scenes to raise prices, working families suffer the costs,” James said in a statement. “These egg producers manipulated the market to squeeze even more profit out of consumers and businesses. By shutting this scheme down and delivering millions of eggs to those in need, we’re sending a clear message that companies will not get away with illegal price hikes in New York.”
The scheme was carried out during a period when eggs were scarce and prices soared to record highs. In late 2022, Midwest large egg prices reached $5.36 per dozen amid a historic bird flu epidemic. By January 2025, the average price of a dozen eggs spiked to nearly $9, up 70% from the year before, as reported by the Post. New York City bodegas even began selling individual “loosie” eggs as carton prices became unaffordable for many residents.
The DOJ’s complaint showed that executives used “spoofing-like tactics” in which traders place buy or sell orders to move the price, then cancel them before they are filled, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The settlement, which must be approved by a federal judge, will force the three companies to end coordinated benchmark manipulation. Mississippi-based Cal-Maine Foods, the largest U.S. egg company, denied wrongdoing, saying in a statement that it “denies all violations of law, continues to believe that such claims are baseless and that its conduct was lawful.”
The case highlights the vulnerability of food supply chains to manipulation, particularly in New York City where food costs have been a persistent burden for residents and restaurant operators. The settlement’s egg donations to New York food banks come at a time when food insecurity remains a significant issue across the five boroughs.
