Boston Market Corp., The Johnny Rockets Group, Barbeque Integrated Inc. and FIC Restaurants Inc. have filed lawsuits alleging that a group of chicken companies conspired to manipulate the price of broilers, a move that the foodservice chains say cost them millions of dollars in overcharges.
The four lawsuits were filed June 12 in the Northern District of Illinois. The alleged collusion took place from January 2008 to 2017.
“Defendants reaped the benefits of their illegal conduct through their production and sale … of broilers at inflated non-competitive prices. Indeed, during key periods in the conspiracy period defendants continuously urged one another to ‘lower supply in order to offset reduced demand and to support higher market prices,’” the complaints claimed.
Tyson Foods, Pilgrim's Pride, Perdue Farms, Koch Foods, Sanderson Farms, JCG Foods, Raeford Farms, Mar-Jac Poultry, Wayne Farms, Fieldale Farms, George's Farms, Simmons Foods, O.K. Foods, Peco Foods, Harrison Poultry, Foster Farms, Claxton Poultry, Mountaire Farms, Amick Farms, Case Farms and Agri Stats Inc. were all named as defendants in the lawsuits.
When contacted by WATTAgNet, Perdue Farms declined to comment. The remaining defendents in the case did not respond to requests for comment.
The four foodservice chains operate more than 1,000 restaurants in the U.S. FIC Restaurants Inc. is the parent company of Friendly's Restaurants, while Barbeque Integrated Inc. runs Smokey Bones.
Ongoing criminal investigation
In June, four poultry leaders were indicted on charges of involvement in an alleged conspiracy to fix broiler chicken prices.
According to the indictment, the four suspects, Jayson Penn, Roger Austin, Mikell Fries and Scott Brady, allegedly conspired to fix prices and rig bids for broiler chickens across the United States, from as early as 2012 until at least early 2017. Penn is the global CEO of Pilgrim’s Pride, while Austin is a former vice president of the company. Fries is the president of Claxton Poultry, while Brady is a vice president.
At the time, the Department of Justice (DOJ) hinted that additional indictments could be coming, calling Penn, Austin, Fries and Brady “the first” to be charged in an ongoing criminal investigation on price fixing, bid rigging and other alleged anticompetitive conduct in the broiler chicken industry.
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