Attorney General Ken Paxton Secures Over Two Million Free Eggs for Texans as Part of Historic Settlement with Cal-Maine Foods for Price Gouging

AUSTIN, TX -- Attorney General Ken Paxton has finalized a major settlement with Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. (“Cal-Maine”), which includes Cal-Maine donating around 2,160,000 eggs to food banks across Texas. Attorney General Paxton previously sued Cal-Maine, one of the largest egg suppliers in the state, in April 2020 for price gouging and illegally raising the cost of eggs by around 300 percent.

“My office will crack down on any corporation illegally raising prices on Texans,” said Attorney General Paxton. “Cal-Maine tried to take advantage of the people of Texas during the COVID-19 pandemic, and this settlement is an important step towards securing justice for the company’s unethical actions. Our efforts to hold Cal-Maine accountable have secured reforms that will help prevent any further illegal price gouging and over two million free eggs that will be distributed by food banks across the state.”

As part of the settlement, Cal-Maine will donate a total of 180,000 dozen large brown and/or white eggs to Texas food banks within the next 120 days. Details on the egg distribution are as follows:

• At least 30,000 dozen Eggs to each of the following food banks: North Texas Food Bank and Houston Food Bank;
• At least 20,000 dozen Eggs to each of the following food banks: Tarrant Area Food Bank; Central Texas Food Bank; and San Antonio Food Bank;
• At least 10,000 dozen Eggs to each of the following food banks: Food Bank of the Rio Grande Valley; East Texas Food Bank; and El Pasoans Fighting Hunger Food Bank;
• At least 5,000 dozen Eggs to each of the following food banks: Coastal Bend Food Bank; South Texas Food Bank; Southeast Texas Food Bank; and South Plains Food Bank; and
• At least 2,000 dozen Eggs to each of the following food banks: High Plains Food Bank; West Texas Food Bank; Food Bank of West Central Texas; Food Bank of the Golden Crescent; and Wichita Falls Area Food Bank.

Additionally, Cal-Maine is barred from demanding a price or selling eggs during a designated disaster period at a price that would violate the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, preventing any further price gouging similar to what the company did in 2020. The settlement can be found here.