Alleged Conspiracy Scrambled: DOJ Antitrust Division and 17 States File Proposed Settlements with Egg Producers After Investigation into Pricing Practices

Key Takeaways

• The DOJ Antitrust Division, together with 17 state attorneys general, reached proposed settlements to resolve allegations that certain egg producers manipulated the price of eggs.
• If approved, the settlements would require the defendant egg producers to (1) refrain from communicating with one another about bids, prices, supply, transaction details, and information affecting published pricing benchmarks; (2) donate more than 50 million eggs to food banks and nonprofit organizations; and (3) make a combined payment of $3.3 million to the states.
• The companies will not admit to any wrongdoing under the proposed settlements, but settlements include financial, compliance, and more behavioral-type requirements. DOJ will likely tout these settlements as further evidence of the government's continued commitment to pocketbook issues, including food affordability.

Key Details

On June 30, 2026, the Department of Justice Antitrust Division (DOJ), together with 17 state attorneys general, filed a civil lawsuit against egg producers for alleged unlawful coordinated manipulation of egg prices.[1] Simultaneously, the DOJ filed proposed settlements. The lawsuit and proposed settlements serve as bookends to the yearslong multistate and federal investigation into the alleged collusive behavior of certain egg producers.

The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa and alleges that certain egg producers coordinated their bidding activity in an effort to influence the daily egg price quoted by a benchmarking service, Urner Barry Publications (Urner).[2] In issuing its daily price quotations, Urner allegedly considered bidding information provided by egg producers. Urner's price quotations in turn influenced wholesale egg prices.

Specifically, the complaint alleges that certain egg producers conspired to inflate Urner's price quotations by agreeing to (1) submit a large number of bids, (2) cause multiple defendants to bid in order to signal to Urner that a diverse set of market participants needed to buy eggs, (3) submit a large number of bids in the hours leading up to the publication of Urner's price quotations, (4) submit bids that were unlikely to lead to executed trades, and (5) execute trades at premium prices.[3] The complaint asserts that this alleged benchmark manipulation resulted in supracompetitive egg prices for consumers.

The DOJ believes its settlements with egg producers reflect a continued commitment to antitrust enforcement that impacts household prices. Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward lauded the settlements' impact on consumers: "No product more quintessentially represents affordability than the price Americans pay for eggs."[4]

The proposed settlements require defendants to donate more than 50 million eggs to food banks and nonprofits across the participating states and pay a combined $3.3 million to those states.[5] The proposed settlements also require the defendants to adopt antitrust compliance programs, appoint antitrust compliance officers, monitor meetings of cooperatives and joint ventures, and report potential violations of the proposed settlements.

BakerHostetler's Cartel and Government Antitrust Investigations Task Force has extensive experience in proactive antitrust compliance counseling, regulatory investigations, and litigation. The Task Force includes former DOJ prosecutors and state assistant attorneys general, as well as attorneys that are members of both the Antitrust and Competition and the White Collar, Investigations and Securities Enforcement and Litigation teams. Please feel free to contact any of our experienced professionals if you have questions about this alert.

[1] Press Release, 26-719, Justice Department Requires Egg Producers to End Coordinated Benchmark Manipulation that Artificially Inflated Prices Across the Country (June 30, 2026), https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-requires-egg-producers-end-coordinated-benchmark-manipulation.

[2] Id.

[3] Compl. ¶ 13.

[4] Id.

[5] Press Release, Attorney General James Secures More Than 50 Million Eggs and $3.3 Million After Uncovering Illegal Scheme to Manipulate Egg Prices (June 29, 2026), https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/2026/attorney-general-james-secures-more-50-million-eggs-and-33-million-after.