US: New suit alleges chicken price fixing

Kroger and two other supermarket chains on Friday joined a group of corporations suing the chicken industry on allegations it manipulated US broiler chicken prices.

The plaintiffs, Kroger, Albertsons Companies, and Hy-Vee, filed an antitrust lawsuit in Illinois federal court that claims more than a dozen chicken companies shared proprietary data to inflate the cost of the nation’s supply of chicken.

The list of defendants include leading chicken producers Koch Foods, Sanderson Farms and Pilgrim’s Pride. Four of them are based in Arkansas: George’s, O.K. Foods, Simmons Foods and Tyson Foods. Arkansas is ranked second in the nation for broiler chicken production.

“We are disappointed by the recent case filed by our customers,” a Tyson spokesman said in an email. “Lawsuits like these do not benefit consumers, but only work to enrich opportunistic plaintiff attorneys. Add-on complaints like this do not change our position. The lawsuits are unfounded and we are determined to defend against these baseless claims.”

The 130-page document claims the poultry companies manipulated the nation’s chicken supply, which inflated the industry’s wholesale prices, causing the nation’s supermarkets and consumers to pay more for chicken products.

Full Content: Law 360

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