Egg Producers Ordered to Pay $53 Million for Price Gouging

Major suppliers, including Cal-Maine Foods and Rose Acre Farms, found guilty of conspiring to limit U.S. egg supply in the 2000s.

A federal jury in Illinois has ordered major egg producers to pay $17.7 million in damages to several food manufacturing companies for conspiring to limit the egg supply in the U.S. during the 2000s, a total that is tripled to over $53 million under federal antitrust law.
The jury found that the egg suppliers used various means to limit the domestic supply of eggs to increase the price of products, including exporting eggs abroad to reduce the overall supply in the domestic market and limiting the number of chickens through means such as cage space, early slaughter, and flock reduction.
The egg suppliers involved in the lawsuit include Cal-Maine Foods, Inc., United Egg Producers, Inc., United States Egg Marketers, Inc., and Rose Acre Farms, Inc., the latter being a southern Indiana-based company previously chaired by John Rust, who is currently running for the U.S. Senate in Indiana.
Both Rose Acre Farms and Cal-Maine Foods have expressed their disagreement with the jury's verdict and have stated that they will continue to explore and consider all legal options, including post-trial relief and appeal.
John Rust has attacked his opponent, U.S. Rep. Jim Banks, in the aftermath of the jury's ruling, accusing him of siding with 'mega corporations over the American farmer.' In response, Banks stated, 'Hoosiers aren’t going to vote for a crook.'