Food Supplier Sues Egg Farm Alleging Breach of Contract

Food Supplier Sues Egg Farm Alleging Breach of Contract

DES MOINES, Iowa — Jun 23, 2015, 5:17 PM ET

By DAVID PITT Associated Press

A food supplier has filed a lawsuit alleging an Iowa farm breached an egg supply contract after its parent company lost millions of chickens to bird flu.

Michael Foods Egg Products Co. filed a complaint in federal court in Des Moines on Monday alleging Hawkeye Pride Egg Farms is violating a January 2014 contract.

Michael Foods is a subsidiary of St. Louis-based cereal-maker Post Holdings Inc. It claims it’s suffering irreparable harm.

The company primarily sells liquid and precooked egg products. Its attorney declined to comment Tuesday on the lawsuit.

Hawkeye Pride is a division of Sioux Center-based Center Fresh Group, which owns egg farms that lost 5.5 million hens to bird flu. A spokeswoman declined to comment on the lawsuit, and an attorney did not return a message.