We were (allegedly) gaslit by Big Egg about egg prices

"I wish I had good news about eggs, but alas, I do not," my colleague Emily Stewart wrote back in January 2025 in an article about how eggs are probably just going to be expensive… forever.

She talked to a ton of people well placed to know what was driving the cost of eggs: egg industry experts (there's someone with the amazing job title "managing editor of eggs in the Americas"), professors of veterinary medicine, epidemiologists, and the CEO of the American Egg Board.

The experts agreed that, in addition to factors like certain state laws on farming practices (a few states have cage-free laws that make local egg production more expensive), the biggest factor was the spread of avian flu, which was more widespread than in the past.

What no one seemed to know at the time was that there was perhaps another factor going on: price fixing.

The Department of Justice just announced this week that it has proposed a settlement for an investigation against three big egg producers, alleging that between 2022 and March 2025, they colluded to keep prices high by coordinating bids on egg exchanges, or the market where egg producers buy and sell from each other.

The three egg producers, Cal-Maine, Versova, and Hickman's Egg Ranch, allegedly spoke on the phone and over text to make plans about how to keep prices high, which ultimately would affect what you saw in the grocery store.

The proposed settlement by the DOJ, along with 17 state attorneys general, requires the three egg companies to pay a combined $3.3 million fine and donate over 50 million eggs to food banks. The settlement has to be accepted by a court.

The companies have agreed to the settlement, which doesn't require admission of any wrongdoing. In a statement, a representative for Versova said, "Our decision to accept this settlement simply reflects our firm intention to put this matter behind us and focus on our business." A representative for MTQ USA, Hickman's owner, said that the issue predates its acquisition of the company in November 2025.

Take a smarter break in your day - and see how far you get.

This isn't to say that manipulation was the main or only factor. The avian flu epidemic was real and affected lots of producers. Hickman's, for example, said in June 2025 that the flu was responsible for the deaths of 95% of its flock.

What feels, to me, so infuriating about this (alleged) price-fixing is how huge a deal egg prices were at the time. We couldn't stop talking about egg prices! It was constantly in the news. (I admit some bias here, as someone involved in writing about egg prices during this period.)

Eggs became the avatar of the entire cost of groceries and the overall cost-of-living crunch for average Americans. Inflation during the 2020s made nearly everything more expensive, and rising grocery prices hurt the pockets of millions of families.

It was incredibly political, too. During the 2024 election cycle, the cost of groceries — especially eggs — was a top issue for candidates. It's probably a stretch to say egg prices clinched the election for Donald Trump, but it's not totally wrong. Lots of voters listened to his promises to ease inflation, especially around grocery prices.

Trump himself believed he won based on egg prices. In an interview with "Meet the Press" just before he took office, he said, "When you buy apples, when you buy bacon, when you buy eggs, they would double and triple the price over a short period of time, and I won an election based on that."

In January 2025, at the same time Emily Stewart wrote about eggs being expensive forever, prices hit $4.95 a dozen, Sen. Elizabeth Warren wrote a letter to the President specifically about egg prices, demanding to know when he'd fulfill his campaign promises to lower them.

Three months later, when prices hit an all-time high of $6.23, the Department of Justice announced its investigation into the alleged price-fixing scheme.

As someone who eats a decent amount of eggs, it's indeed aggravating to have to pay more. It's extra infuriating to imagine that this isn't just because of unfortunate circumstances like a bird flu outbreak, but because of some form of illegal manipulation.

I'm mad! I mean, I guess I'm always mad about illegal price fixing, but this affected me directly — both because I had to pay more at the store, and also because so much of our mental energy had gone into talking about the price of eggs. I feel glaslit!

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