Broiler Chicken Antitrust Litigation — Chicken Prices Rigged!

antitrust (612) 339-6900

Broiler Chicken Antitrust Litigation

Summary

On September 2, 2016, the antitrust team at Lockridge Grindal Nauen filed a class action on behalf of Maplevale Farms, Inc., alleging anticompetitive conduct in the sale of broiler chickens. Broiler chickens are generally most chickens raised for meat consumption and constitute approximately 98% of all chicken meat sold in the United States.

Plaintiff alleges that beginning in 2008, broiler chicken producers coordinated their efforts to artificially reduce the supply of broiler chickens for sale in the United States, knowing that those supply reductions would increase prices. Defendants coordinated their supply reductions by sharing confidential production information with one another, closing plants, exporting hatching eggs, and destroying their breeder hens. As a result, during that time broiler chicken prices have increased nearly 50%.

If you purchased Broiler Chickens between 2008 and today from any of the following companies or their subsidiaries, you may have overpaid: Koch Foods, Inc., Tyson Foods, Inc., Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation, Perdue Farms, Inc., Sanderson Farms, Inc., Wayne Farms, LLC, Mountaire Farms, Inc., Peco Foods, Inc., Foster Farms, LLC, House of Raeford Farms, Inc., Simmons Foods, Inc., Fieldale Farms Corporation, George’s, Inc., or O.K. Foods, Inc.

Contact

If you would like to discuss your legal options, please contact Joe Bruckner or Brian Clark at antitrust or at 612-339-6900.

Articles & Documents

09-08-2016
Article: Antitrust Lawsuit Calls Chicken Prices Rigged | Courthouse News Service

09-07-2016
Class Action Complaint – John Gross and Company, Inc.

09-02-2016
Class Action Complaint – Maplevale Farms, Inc.

09-02-2016
Antitrust class action: Poultry producers manipulated market, kept chicken prices too high | Cook County Record