The Justice Department, joined by attorneys general from 17 states, filed a sweeping antitrust lawsuit Tuesday accusing three of the country’s largest egg producers of conspiring to artificially drive up egg prices over a three-year period, while simultaneously announcing proposed settlements designed to prevent similar conduct in the future.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa, alleges that Cal-Maine Foods, Hickman’s Egg Ranch, and Versova worked together between 2022 and 2025 to manipulate the benchmark prices published by Urner Barry, a market reporting company whose daily quotations help determine egg prices across the United States.

“No product more quintessentially represents affordability than the price Americans pay for eggs,” Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward said.

“These actions prove this Department’s continued commitment to protecting competition and providing real relief for everyday Americans’ pocketbooks,” he added.

According to the complaint, company executives regularly communicated by phone and text message, encouraging one another to submit aggressive bids in order to drive benchmark prices higher. Prosecutors allege the effort was coordinated rather than competitive.

One executive at an egg cooperative allegedly remarked that the companies should “bid like they vote in Chicago, early and often.”

Federal investigators contend the companies agreed on both the timing and volume of their bids and carried out transactions at inflated prices in an effort to influence Urner Barry’s benchmark figures. Those benchmarks are widely used to set wholesale egg prices paid by grocery stores, restaurants, and other major buyers nationwide.

The complaint further alleges that benchmark egg prices “dropped significantly” after the companies were notified in March 2025 that the Justice Department had opened an investigation and ordered them to preserve relevant records.

“Food affordability is a top priority of the Antitrust Division,” former Acting Assistant Attorney General Omeed A. Assefi said.

“These settlements resolve years of conduct that dragged on Americans’ finances and their everyday lives,” said Assefi.

Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole Sarrine said the department remains committed to pursuing companies that unlawfully increase the cost of basic necessities.

“The Antitrust Division is steadfast in our work to protect our nation’s citizens from illegal conduct that makes daily life less affordable,” she said, adding, “We are proud that these settlements will keep egg prices competitive and keep money in the hands of consumers across the country.”

If approved by the court, the proposed settlements would prohibit the companies from sharing information with competitors regarding bidding strategies, pricing decisions, or supply-and-demand data intended to influence benchmark price publications. The agreements would also ban coordinated bidding and trading practices.

The settlements further require each company to establish formal antitrust compliance programs, appoint compliance officers, and strengthen oversight of meetings involving industry cooperatives.

Cal-Maine Foods, the nation’s largest egg producer, denied the allegations.

The company said the communications cited by federal prosecutors involved a former employee, had no impact on egg prices, and were entirely lawful and appropriate under market conditions.

“The period reviewed by the DOJ was a particularly challenging time,” Cal-Maine CEO Sherman Miller said in a statement to The Wall Street Journal.