Cal-Maine Foods, Versova, and Hickman's Egg Ranch will pay $3.3 million combined and donate eggs to food banks
Three of the nation's largest egg producers agree d to a settlement brokered by the U.S. Department of Justice and 17 state attorneys general over an alleged scheme to rig a key egg price benchmark, with the deal requiring 53 million eggs in food bank donations and $3.3 million in payments. The proposed settlement still requires court approval.
According to the settlement, the alleged scheme ran from roughly June 2022 through March 2025, during which Cal-Maine Foods, Versova/Centrum, and Hickman's Egg Ranch worked in concert to sway the daily price quotes that Urner Barry — a pricing service whose egg benchmark underpins many supply contracts — publishes each day. By submitting coordinated bids to inflate the benchmark, the companies artificially raised prices paid by retailers and consumers nationwide, the coalition alleged.
In one documented example, Hickman's then-chief executive emailed executives at Versova and Cal-Maine in December 2022 urging them to submit "strong bids, early and often" to push prices higher, according to the New York attorney general's office. The three companies then submitted dozens of higher-priced bids, prompting Urner Barry to raise its price quotes. Once the three companies became aware of the Justice Department's probe in March 2025, benchmark egg price quotes fell sharply, according to federal officials.
The financial terms break down as follows, according to CNBC: Cal-Maine is on the hook for $1.5 million plus a commitment to supply 30 million eggs, while Hickman's will contribute $1 million and Versova $800,000. Going forward, each company is required to install dedicated antitrust compliance officers and put formal compliance programs in place to guard against future price coordination. Cal-Maine was not assessed any fines or penalties by the DOJ, the company said.
All three companies denied wrongdoing. In an SEC filing, Cal-Maine pushed back on the allegations, arguing that a former employee's communications referenced in the complaint had no bearing on actual egg prices and that the company's behavior throughout the period in question was entirely lawful. "We are pleased that this agreement enables us to move forward so we can devote our full attention to what matters most," said Sherman Miller, president and CEO of Cal-Maine Foods, in a statement. Versova, for its part, framed the resolution as a pragmatic choice, telling CNBC that agreeing to the deal was driven by a desire to move on rather than any admission of liability. Hickman's, now owned through a joint venture involving JBS and Mantiqueira USA, a Brazilian egg producer, noted in a statement cited by The Wall Street Journal that the alleged behavior occurred before the current owners took control, though the settlement covers all outstanding claims.
The 17 states joining the DOJ are Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Wisconsin, and New York, which led the multistate investigation.
Egg prices have since retreated from their highs. Retail prices averaged about $2 per dozen nationwide in May, driven down by an oversupply that has squeezed producer margins even as input costs remain elevated.
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