The U.S. Justice Department is looking into whether big egg producers, like Cal-Maine Foods and Rose Acre Farms, are raising egg prices unfairly by limiting how many eggs they sell. This investigation is just starting, and the department plans to ask for internal information about prices and supply.
Egg Prices Soaring
Egg prices have shot up a lot, hitting a record of $4.95 per dozen in early 2025—some places are even charging $10 per dozen! Wholesale prices have jumped by 255% in just four months, leading many people to wonder why.
Producers say the avian flu outbreak is the main reason behind these price hikes. Since 2022, around 163 million birds, including chickens and turkeys, have either died from the disease or were put down to stop it from spreading. However, others think the losses aren’t big enough to explain such steep price increases.
Who’s Responsible?
People in the egg industry insist that bird flu is the only reason for high prices. Chad Gregory, CEO of United Egg Producers, claims it’s causing chaos in the egg supply. Emily Metz, CEO of the American Egg Board, agrees that bird flu is the main issue. But some, including Senator Elizabeth Warren, believe companies might be taking advantage of this outbreak to raise prices and make more money.
Past Issues With Price Fixing
This isn’t the first time egg producers have faced accusations of unfair pricing. In 2011, several big food companies, like Kraft and General Mills, sued egg producers for working together to limit supply and raise prices. In 2023, a jury found these producers guilty of manipulating the market and ordered them to pay $53 million.
Recently, a group called Farm Action, which fights against big companies in agriculture, asked the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission to investigate possible price fixing again. They noticed that even after egg production started to recover in 2023, prices stayed really high.
The top five egg companies, which include Cal-Maine and Rose Acre, control about half of all egg sales in the U.S. Cal-Maine, the biggest supplier, reported an 82% rise in revenue at the end of 2024, making $954 million—almost double what they earned the year before! The company said this jump was mostly due to higher selling prices for eggs.
Research by Food and Water Watch showed that having fewer companies in the egg business is keeping prices high. Amanda Starbuck from Food and Water Watch pointed out that bird flu doesn’t fully explain why eggs cost so much—corporate control is playing a big role too. They also found that prices started to go up even before bird flu affected local farms, raising further questions about price manipulation.
The Justice Department’s investigation might not lead to legal actions, but it has sparked new conversations about the power big companies have in our food system. Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is looking into solutions, including bringing in more eggs from other countries and increasing funding to handle bird flu outbreaks.
For now, American consumers are stuck dealing with high egg prices while companies and regulators figure out what’s really causing this crisis.
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