Texas AG Ken Paxton Secures 7M Eggs in Antitrust Case Settlement

AUSTIN, TX -- Attorney General Ken Paxton secured settlements with three national egg producers, forcing the companies to donate over 7 million eggs to food banks across Texas. This settlement resolves antitrust claims brought by 17 state attorneys general that stemmed from an alleged conspiracy to inflate egg prices between 2022 and 2025.

Under the agreements, Cal-Maine Foods, Centrum/Versova, and Hickman’s Egg Ranch will donate more than 53 million eggs to food banks and community organizations in the involved states, including the 7 million eggs for Texas foodbanks, and pay a total of $3.3 million to the states. In the coming months, the Office of the Attorney General will coordinate with the settling companies to distribute the eggs to participating food banks throughout the state. The agreements also require the companies to stop their illegal conduct and implement safeguards to prevent similar misconduct in the future. Each company must appoint compliance officers responsible for overseeing adherence to their settlement and report any violations to the Office of the Attorney General, the U.S. Department of Justice, and other participating states.

Working alongside the Trump Administration’s Department of Justice and several partner states, an investigation found that the companies conspired to coordinate their bidding activity to influence daily egg price quotes published by Urner Barry, a benchmark pricing service used in egg supply contracts with grocery retailers and the food service industry. In one instance, a Hickman’s executive urged executives at Cal-Maine and Versova to submit aggressive, repeated bids to push prices higher. All three companies then placed numerous, elevated bids, prompting Urner Barry to raise its price quotes. By manipulating this industry benchmark, the companies artificially inflated the cost of eggs paid by Texas consumers.

“I will continue to hold any corporation accountable if they violate our laws to raise prices on Texans,” said Attorney General Paxton. “These three major egg producers conspired to profit off antitrust violations that ultimately raised the prices of eggs for Americans. Now, they will have to donate over 7 million eggs to food banks across Texas. This settlement serves as another reform that we have secured to prevent price gouging and unlawful conduct that hurts Americans and their wallets.”

This action is part of Attorney General Paxton’s broader effort to protect Texas farmers, producers, and consumers from anticompetitive conduct in the agricultural sector. The victory follows his settlement with Cal-Maine Foods, which includes Cal-Maine donating around 2,160,000 eggs to food banks across Texas. It also comes after his historic resolution with Agri Stats, Inc., which had facilitated the exchange of confidential cost and pricing information that raised grocery prices for Texans. Additionally, Attorney General Paxton recently launched an investigation into potential anticompetitive behavior among the nation’s largest meatpackers in the beef industry.