The country's biggest egg producers are gathering profits as shoppers get slammed for stratospheric prices. That's because the company intentionally maintains supply, farm advocacy groups argue.
Ridgeland, Michigan-based Cal-Maine Foods claims to use the avian flu crisis to “raise prices, accumulate record profits and integrate the power of the market.” Tuesday's letter to the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice.
The letter states that while US egg farms have destroyed about 115 million chickens for 24 months, stopping the spread of avian flu and stopping the spread of avian flu for 24 months, the letter said. It shows an “amazing unwillingness” to invest in expansion.
Despite the fact that the average price of a dozen eggs last month reached a record $4.95, surpassing the previous record of $4.82 in January 2023. According to the latest data from the Department of Labor, the average price of a dozen eggs reached a record $4.95 last month.
In some New York City supermarkets, the prices of 12 regular eggs hit or surpass the $10 mark. Low-priced stores, including Trader Joe and Costco, impose restrictions on how many customers can buy.
Farm Action, a group supported by small farmers to target “corporate monopolies,” has said that major egg producers will “stumble” to supply new egg sales hens to extend record profits over two years “It claims to continue doing this.
According to an analysis by a farm-led nonprofit, the only major publicly held egg producers, including Cal-Maine – Land O'Lakes and Egg-Land's Best, are from 2021 to 2024. It has stabilized the production of approximately 1.1 billion dozen eggs per year. .
During that period, the company's total profit increased 237%, up 646% from 2021 to 2023.
Instead of increasing herds, the five companies blew them off to gain competitors, instead of increasing herds. Cal-Maine Foods acquired six companies in 2023 alone.
Other companies that conspire with Calmaine are Rose Acre Farm, Dawn Food, Hilladale Farm and Versova Holdings.
Cal-Maine did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The US egg sales flock has revealed that the egg industry has failed to significantly expand the number of fertilized eggs placed in incubators and the number of hatched chicks, resulting in the fat of approximately 330 million hens. “We haven't returned to our presymptomatic size yet.” letter.
The bird flock recovered much faster during the last outbreak of 2015, which took only eight months to return to normal numbers of birds.
Between the 2014-2015 bird flu, producers lost and replaced more than 35 million chickens in less than a year, and recovered completely from the outbreak. This time, I can't see any recovery in two years.
In 2023, three other egg producers in Maine, California were ordered by a federal ju apprentice to pay $17.7 million in damages to Craft Foods, Kellogg Company, General Mills and Nestlé USA. US.
Cal-Maine manages approximately 20% of the US egg market. The company was charged with price adjustments by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) at the start of the 2022 avian flu.
