Cal-Maine Foods Inc., the nation’s largest egg producer,, on Tuesday acknowledged that it is being investigated by the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division over the national increase in egg prices. The brief admission in its newest financial report made headlines and the company’s shares fell by about 4 percent in after-hours trading. “In March 2025, the Company received a civil investigative demand in connection with a widely publicized investigation by the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice into the causes behind nationwide increases in egg prices,” Cal-Maine said in its financial report for its third quarter on Tuesday. “The Company is cooperating with the investigation.” Cal-Maine also announced that it signed an agreement before the end of the third quarter to acquire Echo Lake Foods for about $258 million. “Echo Lake Foods is a leading innovator with a long history of providing quality ready-to-eat egg products and breakfast foods to a blue-chip customer base,” Miller said. Source: zerohedge.com

This isn't the first time they've been investigated:

**On May 1, 2012, Cal-Maine announced a joint venture between the cooperative Eggland's Best and Land O'Lakes. Cal-Maine was the largest franchisee of Eggland's Best and one of the company's 13 shareholders. As of 2011, 16 percent of Cal-Maine egg sales were Eggland's Best.[2]

In 2018, an investigation at Lake Wales Farm by the animal rights group Animal Recovery Mission (ARM) indicated that chickens suffered inhumane living conditions and abuse by employees. After further investigation by the Polk County sheriff's department and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), it was found that the farm had followed American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) protocols for euthanizing poultry. No confirmation of abuse was found.[3]

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, in the spring of 2020, Cal-Maine increased egg prices over 300% - from $1 to $3.44 per dozen. This triggered at least one lawsuit challenging the price jump as unjustified, since there hadn't been an actual supply chain interruption.[4]

Early in the morning of December 17, 2020, a fire destroyed two barns at Cal-Maine's Dade City, Florida facilities. The fire killed over 240,000 chickens, including 120,000 pullets; the financial loss was estimated to be over $1 million.[5]

In November 2023, the company was found liable in a lawsuit alleging that it colluded, along with Rose Acre Farms, United Egg Producers, and United States Egg Marketers, to reduce the supply of eggs and increase prices between 2004 and 2008.[6] The plaintiffs in the case, a group of large food manufacturers led by Kraft Foods, originally filed the long-running lawsuit in 2011, but it did not reach trial until October 2023.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cal-Maine

Democrats now support price fixing... lol

Cal-Maine released its financial result for its third quarter, which ended March 1, on Tuesday showing it hatched robust earnings: $508 million, or $10.38 per share, a 245 percent jump from earnings of $146.4 million, or $3.01 per share, a year ago

They've been complaining since covid how food suppliers have been having records profits while completely ignoring that every year companies make record profits due to inflation.. It will be fun to see them twist themselves into a pretzel defending the very thing they've been whining about for years now.

Eggcellant