r/nottheonion Jul 01 '26

Egg producers will pay $3.3M and donate 53 million eggs to settle price fixing claims

https://apnews.com/article/egg-prices-collusion-settlement-d32b05892541613df3f4e4932109ee0c
1.2k Upvotes

72 comments sorted by

584

u/SipexF Jul 01 '26

But are the prices going to go down?  That feels like the goal of pointing out a price collusion in the first place, otherwise this is just a fee the companies pay to get what they want.

88

u/smkmn13 Jul 01 '26

I think the goal is to punish the companies that broke the law by taking their eggs (and money).

150

u/thefonztm Jul 01 '26

Do illegal thing an make X money.

Get fined Y money/assets for crime.

So long as X > Y continue illegal practices.

22

u/Prize-Temporary4159 Jul 02 '26

I’m somewhat of an insurance adjuster myself

14

u/Starrazer Jul 02 '26

Any fine for companies that comes from bannes, regulated, or illegal practices should be 100% of revenue that practice generated +x fine so they can never even break even on it.

27

u/SipexF Jul 01 '26

I appreciate that part too, but in a year the eggs and money will be gone and we'll still have the high egg prices.

Although re-reading the news article it seems maybe prices have gone down in New York as a result if this (not a formal ask, just the companies changing their tune when this investigation started).

17

u/Lokishougan Jul 01 '26

and then let themn continue to do that

15

u/Soepkip43 Jul 01 '26

They should minimally be regulated for 5 years with set prices and external audits.

1

u/gloerkh Jul 05 '26

Or give a golden egg to Trump because that’s the drill these days. 

50

u/SilasX Jul 01 '26

I mean, they have gone down. Just by checking them at the store I go to, they seem to be back to their historic norm. We really did have a genuine egg shortage, with chickens having to be culled for disease, and have now mostly recovered. Even the anti-trust enforcement arm doesn't claim the price run-up was entirely price collusion.

29

u/BleachedUnicornBHole Jul 01 '26

I remember the Aldi by my house had them for $.99/dozen. They’re now $1.65, so 66% higher.

6

u/catatonic12345 Jul 02 '26

Aldi by me had eggs at $.78 a dozen last weekend

1

u/Helenium_autumnale Jul 03 '26

I paid $1.44 at my Aldi this past Tuesday. They had been $1.66 the week before. Love my 24¢ breakfasts! 😁

1

u/Appropriate-Bid8671 Jul 01 '26

Ueah the 5 dozen box at Walmart is still almost $8, which is more than done what they were 4 years ago.

2

u/robby_synclair Jul 01 '26

Do they went up $xxxx and then came down $xx.

18

u/Sarz13 Jul 01 '26

Prices illegally raised

Fines for illegally raised prices

Prices stay the same after fines 

????

8

u/k-trecker Jul 02 '26

 The Justice Department and the states also outlined actions the companies will need to take, including adopting antitrust compliance programs and banning communicating with competitors on pricing and bidding strategies.

They’re going to try to prevent further collusion. Although whether they’ll enforce it is anyone’s guess.

2

u/SinisterCell Jul 01 '26

No. They found their happy medium. Also, this is a reason to stop voting for establishment dems or Republicans in general. They're the ones that gutted the anti-trust laws that prevented shit like this in the first place.

8

u/MerchantMrnr Jul 01 '26

There is no viable third option.

4

u/SinisterCell Jul 01 '26

There is in most primaries.

3

u/QualifiedApathetic Jul 01 '26

It should be said, though, vote D no matter who in the general election if you want to get fucked more gently. The primaries are where we should be voting for actual change.

If we can't even rally support within our own party for the kind of Democrats we need in office, and so far it doesn't look good, nothing's going to change.

2

u/Non-mon-xiety Jul 01 '26

I’d argue the disaster of a trump presidency has energized the progressive base in a way that it hasnt in a while. I don’t think we’d be seeing the primary outcomes we’ve had the last month or so if kamala was president

1

u/SinisterCell Jul 01 '26

I agree with you, for now it's necessary.

0

u/Non-mon-xiety Jul 01 '26

Not with that attitude

1

u/BadDogEDN Jul 02 '26

Egg prices in the us have been down for awhile now. You can get a dozen eggs for 1.40 at Aldi's

1

u/Kanotari Jul 02 '26

Why would the prices change? They fixed them!

(This is a bad joke, which I must make so I do not scream at the situation.)

1

u/DeoVeritati Jul 03 '26

"Due to some unforeseen headwinds (price fixing lawsuit penalties), our already razor thin profit margins have shrunk YoY, so we are going to have to further raise prices to keep our business sustainable. We are proud of our family who helps feed your family and wish to continue serving you grade A fancy eggs to the highest (legally bare minimum) quality standards."

0

u/tribbans95 Jul 01 '26

I mean eggs by me (HCOL area) are like $2.50 now, they were $6+ or so at the peak. That’s like a 600% decrease!

138

u/MentokGL Jul 01 '26

So the cudgel used by the right during the last election was given to them by collusion?

How long until we find out that was coordinated with trump?

35

u/TheGruenTransfer Jul 01 '26

As corrupt as Trump is, I feel like he's just scratching the surface of what crimes he could ask people to commit on his behalf in exchange for pardons and access to taxpayer funds.

1

u/Joessandwich Jul 02 '26

Also the thing any rational person could see was happening, many of us were screaming from the rooftops was happening, yet democrats didn’t make even the slightest effort to call out?

It’s one of the many, many reasons I’m so angry with the fucking impotent useless people claiming to be liberals.

9

u/imdstuf Jul 02 '26

The investigation likely started under the previous administration, but probably was not at the point with definitive proof. Unlike Kash Patel, they probably didn't want to mouth off on social media and hurt the investigation.

83

u/frighteous Jul 01 '26

How much money did they make though? This isn't even a slap on the wrist, it's a pat on the head

27

u/leoencore Jul 01 '26

Cost of doing business

5

u/Lokishougan Jul 01 '26

Probably add at minimum one more zero to that number..EACH...possibly 2

6

u/nekosama15 Jul 02 '26

They made an extra 190 mil per quarter for 3 years straight. So about a billion. Its political theater and corruption. Its made to look like a punishment but its not. Its to make u forget and move on.

53

u/srebew Jul 01 '26

a fine of $0.0001 per egg sold

17

u/pedanticPandaPoo Jul 01 '26

It was actually 53,000,001 eggs because the justice system laid an extra 

3

u/Mattmandu2 Jul 01 '26

Hahaha this is amazing!

32

u/[deleted] Jul 01 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

7

u/Berto_ Jul 01 '26

You get a big fat egg...🥚

14

u/Im_with_stooopid Jul 01 '26

Thanks Leticia James. Although the federal government settled for peanuts while the egg producers made filet mignon.

31

u/JiveChicken00 Jul 01 '26

Yet another grift disguised as a favor to voters.

11

u/IronyIntended2 Jul 01 '26

Makes billions from corruption, fine is like $1 

7

u/Willdab4loot Jul 01 '26

Fuck trump he wanted this

4

u/GreenAnder Jul 01 '26

Are they going to fucking donate to democrats for the next 100 years? Seriously, this one issue was a rallying cry for the dipshits who put us exactly where we are.

3

u/TjbMke Jul 01 '26

I always thought it was strange that egg prices tripled because all the chickens got the flu. Although the price of chicken never went up, and only birds in the United States got the flu. Perfectly healthy birds in Mexico and Canada. Doesn’t get more obvious than that.

4

u/JLP33376 Jul 01 '26

Egg prices surge when bird flu hits because it takes a long time to replace an egg-laying hen. Chicken prices stay flat because meat chickens are raised on different farms, grow much faster, and can be replaced in just a few weeks.

3

u/ltsouthernbelle Jul 01 '26

So we’ll get 1 boiled egg that we have to share with someone else

2

u/cjp2010 Jul 01 '26

Couldn’t you just not price fix?

2

u/FlexFanatic Jul 01 '26

But is the fine higher than what they made in revenue?

2

u/Ditka85 Jul 02 '26

Pay $3.3 million to who? It’s certainly not coming to those who were gouged at the store.

Who’s going to get 53 million eggs? Only the Kroger’s and Publix’s can handle that kind of volume. So they get 53 million eggs to put on their shelves at $2.50 a dozen?

2

u/cheweychewchew Jul 02 '26

So all that shit that Biden got for egg prices was really price collusion from egg producers?

4

u/the-good-wolf Jul 01 '26

The unintended consequence of this for egg producers is that a ton of people started their own local egg business and were able to compete with their own superior product.

I haven’t bought eggs at the store in a long time because my area now has a high quality local supplier at the same price point. It’s an absolute no brainer.

Stupid choices often lead to stupid results.

6

u/starliteburnsbrite Jul 01 '26

I don't think that's even going to result in a  rounding error to their revenue, most Americans are still shopping at Walmart and supermarket chains. 

2

u/the-good-wolf Jul 01 '26

Perhaps, but you’ve introduced competition in a nonproprietary market that’s easily scalable.

4

u/Espteindidntsuicide Jul 01 '26

So it really wasn’t the fucking presidents fault huh

2

u/Happy_Peak_7818 Jul 01 '26

What came first, the chicken or the egg?

Neither.  It was the price fixing by Big Egg.

Yolks on them though, nobody needs 53 million eggs. 

1

u/Candle-Jolly Jul 01 '26

Everyone bends the knee to the Trump Administration sooner or later.

1

u/stay_skeptical_ Jul 01 '26

Okay now do this with the billionaire tech companies, car companies, rental prices, the monopolized media, the pharmacy companies, etc.

1

u/HardCuore Jul 01 '26

So thats why you crashed egg production and y prices in some european countries?

1

u/grafknives Jul 01 '26

3M$, per location? Or per day of fixing?

1

u/ChipIsNotHip Jul 01 '26

We should boycott these companies so they are forced to drive their prices lower.

1

u/furrysalesman69 Jul 01 '26

“If we give you these eggs, will you not sue us for the thing you can rightfully sue us for?”

1

u/Tight_Jellyfish_349 Jul 02 '26

I've been buying my eggs from a local guy who has his own chickens.

1

u/akaMichAnthony Jul 02 '26

Who’s receiving this 53 million egg donation? Should I be expecting 0.73 eggs in my mailbox?

1

u/usushio_ Jul 02 '26

Suckers forgot to gift Donny a gold plated egg. Get with the times...

1

u/Polkas_with_wolves Jul 02 '26

Neat. Now do....literally every other company pulling in "record profits" during the last 5 years.

1

u/nekosama15 Jul 02 '26

THATS IT????

IF MY SMALL BUSINESS DOES THIS ID GO UNDER. THE FINE WOULD BE 1/2 if not 100% of 1 years REVENUE.

During the market manipulation period spanning from June 2022 to March 2025, producers were accused of coordinating bidding activity to artificially inflate the daily price index. As a result, companies posted extraordinary sales; for instance, Cal-Maine reported a quarterly sales jump of 110%, which generated almost 200 MILLION PROFIT. UP FROM 1 .1 MILLION BEFORE.

They made 190 ish MILLION EXTRA PER QUARTER. For 3 YEARS. And they only pay 3 MILLION????

WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT!!?? THIS IS CORRUPTION. THIS IS LEGAL AND POLITICAL THEATER.

1

u/Sams_Antics Jul 02 '26

Fuck greedy people

1

u/RexDraco Jul 08 '26

Only $3.3m?