140K Eggs Coming To Westchester After Price Fixing Settlement, AG’s Office Says

ELMSFORD, NY — Elmsford food bank Feeding Westchester is 140,000 eggs richer this week, thanks to a delivery of eggs that came as part of a multi-state price fixing settlement with three egg producers, Attorney General Letitia James' office announced.

According to the AG's office, three egg producers — Cal-Maine Foods (Cal-Maine), Versova/Centrum (Versova), and Hickman's Egg Ranch (Hickman's) — coordinated their bidding strategies as far back as 2022 with the goal of raising daily egg price quotes, submitting "sham bids at artificially inflated prices" to distort the egg market.

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These bids, the AG's office said, were used in attempts to raise the price quoted by pricing service Urner Barry, which in turn influences the price of egg supply contracts.

"By manipulating the Urner Barry benchmark, the companies artificially inflated the price of eggs paid by retailers and consumers nationwide," James' office said.

After an investigation, the companies settled 17 states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Vermont, and Wisconsin. According to state officials, the settlement deal will see them deliver 53 million eggs to food banks across the states. 4,968,000 of those eggs will be delivered to New York, officials said, over 140,000 of which came to Feeding Westchester this week.

"This delivery of fresh, local eggs comes at a critical time for our community," Feeding Westchester President and CEO Kristine Borok said. "The most recent ALICE Report shows that nearly half of all New York state residents, and 41 percent of Westchester households, struggle to afford food and other basic necessities, often despite working full-time jobs. Feeding Westchester and our 175 partners will ensure these eggs are distributed quickly to where they provide healthy meals for families that need them most."

Also part of the settlement is a $3.3 million payment to states, and a promise that the companies will change their practices to prevent future price fixing operations.

"For years, corporate greed pushed egg prices higher for working families throughout New York and the nation," James said in a statement Monday. "My office led an investigation into some of the country's largest egg producers and shut down an illegal bid-rigging scheme. New Yorkers deserve fair prices at the grocery store, and I thank Feeding Westchester for partnering with our office to help deliver free eggs for those in need."

For Feeding Westchester, the eggs came in 11,700 cartons, each holding a dozen eggs. They're just the latest in a statewide egg delivery plan that has already distributed over 1.2 million eggs, James' office said. According to state officials, those deliveries will continue across the state through October.