Chick-fil-A, Target allege poultry price fixing in suits

Chick-fil-A and Target are the latest companies to file lawsuits that claim the top poultry companies in the United States colluded in an attempt to fix the price of chicken.

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Chick-fil-A and Target are the latest companies to file lawsuits that claim the top poultry companies in the United States colluded in an attempt to fix the price of chicken.

Chick-fil-A lawsuit

Chick-fil-A, according to a report from the New York Times, filed its lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Chicago on December 4. In its suit, the quick-service-restaurant chain accused 16 companies -- including Tyson Foods, Pilgrim’s Pride, Sanderson Farms and Perdue Farms – of violating federal antitrust laws by sharing confidential bidding and pricing information with one another.

The company seeks unspecified damages and lawyer feeds incurred by Chick-fil-A, and says its losses from price fixing would be established during a requested trial.

Headquartered in College Park, Georgia, Chick-fil-A operates about 2,600 restaurants in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.

Target lawsuit

Target has also filed a complaint alleging price fixing, according to a Bloomberg report.

The retail chain accuses the leading poultry companies of illegal cooperation, alleging that the collusion began as early as 2008 and continued until at least 2017. Agri Stats is also named in Target’s suit, as Target claims the poultry companies were able to utilize Agri Stats’ data to coordinate with one another on pricing and production levels.

Target, which is headquartered in Minneapolis, has more than 1,900 stores in the United States.

History of allegations

Numerous buyers of chicken meat have filed similar lawsuits alleging price fixing, with those lawsuits dating back as far as 2016.

In June 2019, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a motion to intervene in cases where plaintiffs allege top poultry companies conspired to raise the price of chicken.

Since that time, ten people have been indicted on federal antitrust charges. The suspects indicted have past or present affiliations with a variety of poultry companies, including Pilgrim’s Pride, Claxton Poultry, Tyson Foods and Perdue Farms.

Pilgrim’s Pride in October entered into a plea agreement with the DOJ, in which it agreed to pay a fine of more than $110.5 million.

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