Buffalo, NY (WBEN) New York Attorney General Letitia James today announced the delivery of more than 140,000 eggs to FeedMore Western New York in Buffalo as part of a bipartisan multistate settlement with Cal-Maine Foods (Cal-Maine), Versova/Centrum (Versova), and Hickman’s Egg Ranch (Hickman’s) for years of price fixing. A multistate investigation led by the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) alongside the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and 16 other states revealed that Cal-Maine, Versova, and Hickman’s illegally coordinated to influence a daily price index for eggs.
The investigation alleged that this coordination artificially increased prices for retailers and consumers throughout the country for years. Under a settlement with the states, the three egg producers will deliver 53 million eggs to food banks in the 17 participating states, including 4,968,000 eggs to New York. In addition to the egg deliveries, the companies will pay $3.3 million to the states and make changes to their practices to prevent future violations of the law. The delivery of 11,700 cartons of a dozen eggs to FeedMore Western New York is the seventh in a series of egg deliveries to food banks statewide.
“No New Yorker should have to pay extra for essentials at the grocery story because corporations are rigging the market,” said Attorney General James. “Our investigation unearthed an illegal scheme to raise egg prices across the country, and now we are holding the companies behind it accountable. I am grateful to FeedMore Western New York for their partnership in distributing these eggs to New Yorkers across the region.”…