In a significant development, a federal judge has ruled that major chicken producers, including Pilgrim’s Pride, Sanderson Farms, and Tyson Foods, must confront private antitrust litigation accusing them of colluding to manipulate broiler chicken prices by limiting supply. This legal action involves allegations by restaurants, supermarkets, distributors, and consumers who claim that chicken producers conspired since 2008 to artificially inflate prices through tactics such as production restrictions and sharing confidential data on supply and demand.
U.S. District Judge Thomas Durkin, in his 90-page decision, acknowledged the likelihood that Pilgrim’s Pride, Sanderson Farms, and Tyson engaged in price-fixing. Durkin cited instances of competitors regularly exchanging sensitive production data, a practice that is contrary to the behavior of active competitors.
The judge also focused the case on specific periods, namely “anomalous decreases in broiler production” during 2008-2009 and 2011-2012. Claims related to supply cuts in 2015-2016 and alleged manipulation of the Georgia Dock broiler price index were dismissed due to weak evidence of a conspiracy.
The ruling also addressed the involvement of other producers, such as Perdue, and Agri Stats, a company accused of enabling producers to monitor each other’s production and pricing activities through industry reports.
Claims against these parties were dismissed.
The accused companies, including Pilgrim’s Pride, Sanderson Farms, and Tyson, have yet to provide a response to the ruling. Notably, some of the plaintiffs have previously reached settlements with the defendants.
Tyson, for instance, announced settlements totaling $221.5 million to resolve claims against them.
It’s worth mentioning that Pilgrim’s Pride is predominantly owned by JBS SA, a major Brazilian food company.
The case, known as In re Broiler Chicken Antitrust Litigation, is being heard in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois under case number 16-08637.
This ruling marks a significant step forward in addressing the allegations of price-fixing within the poultry industry. As the legal proceedings continue, it remains to be seen how the implicated companies will respond and what impact this case will have on the broader chicken market.