North Carolina food banks to receive about 3 million eggs in antitrust settlement: NCAG

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — Food banks in North Carolina will receive about 3 million eggs from three major producers following a settlement agreement with the attorney general’s office, state officials said Wednesday.

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According to the Office of the North Carolina Attorney General’s Office, the settlement resolves allegations of Cal-Maine Foods, Hickman’s Family Farms, and Versova violating antitrust laws by manipulating information that helps set egg prices in the country.

North Carolina, 16 other states, and the United States Department of Justice launched an antitrust investigation into the three producers early last year, according to the attorney general’s office.

The North Carolina Attorney General’s Office said the producers were accused of working together between 2022 and 2025 to share information and coordinate on bidding to manipulate the industry benchmark prices used by grocery stores, restaurants, and other large buyers to buy eggs. This resulted in the price that customers pay for eggs being artificially inflated.

In a complaint against these producers, the North Carolina Attorney General’s Office and the other plaintiffs alleged these actions were a violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act.

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Under the settlement, according to the attorney general’s office, the three producers agreed to donate about 50 million eggs to food banks across the nation, including about three million to North Carolina’s food banks.

The producers also must also stop illegally coordinating to manipulate price benchmarks, prevent future violations by adopting compliance measures, fully cooperate with state oversight, and designate antitrust compliance officers who will monitor settlement violations and report such violations the states and DOJ, according to the attorney general’s office.

“These egg producers worked together to game the system so they could charge more for eggs,” North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson said in a statement. “That’s against the law. This settlement makes sure they can’t rig the market anymore and food banks in our state will get millions of eggs to help feed people who are hungry.”

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