No yolk: NC AG Jeff Jackson settles antitrust lawsuit for 3 million eggs

Some might say the settlement wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. You might even think Attorney General Jeff Jackson went over easy on the perpetrators. 

Although the puns write themselves, Jackson’s recent legal settlement with bid-rigging egg producers is actually a serious story.  And the eggs — about nine semi-truckloads of them — will be a welcome gift to the state’s food banks.

The price of eggs played a big role in the 2024 elections, often standing in for larger consumer concerns about rising food prices. At the time, economists and industry insiders blamed higher egg prices on an outbreak of avian flu that began in early 2022, along with overall post-COVID inflation and higher demand. 

But a settlement signed this week by Jackson and 16 other attorneys general tells a different story. According to the settlement, three major national egg producers engaged in a price-fixing scheme to drive up egg prices.

According to Jackson’s office, the producers set benchmark prices for wholesale to large national buyers like grocery store chains and restaurants. The complaint contends that the three big producers — Cal-Maine, Versova and Hickman’s Family Farms — coordinated with each other for years to artificially drive prices higher, violating the Sherman Antitrust Act. 

“In December 2022, Hickman’s CEO emailed Versova and Cal-Maine executives and urged them to submit ‘strong bids, early and often’ to push the benchmark higher,”  Jackson’s press release said. “All three companies then submitted dozens of bids at higher prices, which led to the benchmark prices increasing.”  

The investigation began in early 2025 — about the time egg prices were peaking across the country. The prices fell dramatically over the next few weeks. 

Under the settlement, the egg producers will provide 50 million eggs to food banks across the country by October 2026. North Carolina food banks will receive three million of them. The producers also have to pay $1.5 million to the group of plaintiffs for legal fees, avoid any illegal cooperation in the future, and agree to more antitrust oversight.

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“This settlement makes sure they can’t rig the market anymore, and food banks in our state will get millions of eggs to help feed people who are hungry,” Jackson said in a statement. 

Three million eggs works out to 250,000 dozen eggs, or a little over nine truckloads, according to the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina. CEO Amy Beros said she’s excited to get the donation into the hands of needy families.

“Hunger in our community is the highest we’ve seen in at least a generation — and more and more families are turning to food banks for help as everyday costs continue to rise,” Beros said. “Protein is consistently one of the most requested and hardest-to-source items, which makes these eggs an especially meaningful source of nourishment for families across North Carolina.”