- The DOJ is reportedly looking into whether egg producers are helping keep egg prices high.
- Industry groups for egg producers say that avian flu and culling of millions of birds, combined with high demand, keeps prices up.
- Lawmakers and advocates have asked for an investigation, for the sake of consumers.
While the avian flu has unquestionably driven up egg prices nationwide, the Justice Department is pondering whether anything else is at play.
ABC News reported the department is “in the early stages of investigating major egg producers over soaring egg prices,” based on the news organization’s conversations with sources familiar with the issue.
The article added that “the investigation is being run out of the Antitrust Division of the Justice Department and won’t necessarily lead to any legal action.”
The New York Times also reported that the department is in early stages of an investigation “over possible antitrust violations,” quoting sources familiar with the issue.
“The department’s lawyers are preparing to send civil investigative demands — effectively subpoenas for civil investigations — to several producers, including CalMaine Foods and Rose Acre Farms, one of the people said,“ per the article. ”Investigators are looking at whether the companies are sharing sensitive information about pricing and supply, contributing to a spike in prices."
The Times said the DOJ’s spokeswoman declined to comment, as did the two egg producers.
According to The Wall Street Journal, “The department sent a letter to some egg companies that instructed them to preserve documents about their pricing conversations with customers and competitors, as well as communications with Urner Barry — which is now called Expana and tracks wholesale egg-price information, some of the people familiar with the matter said. The letter also signaled the department was interested in company communications about egg production and bird flu.”
The Capitol Forum, an antitrust trade publication, broke the story of the probe.
Prices up, up and away
As Deseret News has reported, egg prices have blown up over the last year, with some shoppers paying close to $10 a dozen.
A market report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported last Friday that prices have dropped some recently: “Prices for national trading of trucklot quantities of graded, loose, white large shell eggs decreased $1.20 to $6.85 per dozen with a sharply lower undertone.”
The USDA report noted that demand for shell eggs “continues to fade into the new month as no significant outbreaks of (highly pathogenic avian influenza) have been detected in nearly two weeks.”
Egg industry refutes claims
Emily Metz, president and CEO of the American Egg Board, told ABC News that price gouging suspicion is a “misreading of facts and reality.” She said the market is “responding to the uncertainty and chaos bird flu is causing. Eggs are subject to the economic laws of supply and demand.”
Since avian influenza outbreaks have hit poultry farms and production plants, millions of hens have been culled, severely reducing the supply of eggs being laid. United Egg Producers, the industry’s trade association, reported that more than 50 million egg-laying hens were killed in 2024 and another 31 million were killed in January and February of this year as the virus spread.
Group CEO Chad Gregory, the group’s chief executive, said in a statement that the legally required recovery process could exceed a year.
Calls for an investigation
In late January, a group of Democratic lawmakers wrote to President Donald Trump to ask about plans to lower the price of food, something he promised on the campaign trail to make more affordable.
The letter asked that he look at “dominant food and grocery companies that make record profits on the backs of working families who have had to pay higher prices. These companies often exploit crises like pandemics and avian flu outbreaks as an opportunity to raise prices beyond what is needed to cover rising costs.”
The letter suggested that egg producers and grocery stores could “leverage the current avian flu outbreak as an opportunity to further constrain supply or hike up egg prices to increase profits.”
The Times article noted that advocacy groups had also called for an investigation, noting that while 15% of egg-laying chickens have been killed in the last four months, wholesale egg prices rose 255%, based on data from Expana, which tracks the price of eggs.
“The five largest producers, including Cal-Maine and Rose Acre, control roughly half of the egg market in the United States. Cal-Maine, which is publicly traded and controls about a fifth of the market, reported an 82% jump in revenues for the quarter that ended in late November, to $954 million from $523 million a year earlier. The surge was ‘primarily driven by an increase in the net average selling price of shell eggs as well as an increase in total dozens sold,’ the company said. But others say the industry may be limiting supplies, forcing prices higher.”
Farm Action, an antitrust trade group, is among those calling for a look at what’s driving prices and lauded news the DOJ is looking into the issue.
“We applaud the Department of Justice’s action to address the skyrocketing price of eggs. Every American has felt the financial pain caused by the power of the monopolistic egg industry,” Farm Action said in a statement. “While avian flu is real, it is no excuse for the price being charged at the grocery store for one of the country’s staples.”
But as the Times reported, it’s not the first time questions have been raised about egg producers. In 2011, major food companies sued the biggest egg producers, claiming they teamed up to increase prices — and a jury agreed, ordering $17.7 million in damages.