Stop egg producers from price gouging!
Petition to the FTC:
We demand the FTC investigate corporate egg producers for price gouging in the high cost of eggs. It’s clear the companies are exploiting their market dominance to jack up prices through price gouging, price coordination, and other unfair, anti-competitive practices. The FTC must investigate egg producers and get the American people their money back.
Last week, a federal jury finally ruled that several major egg producers conspired to raise egg prices over a decade ago.1 That’s right, Big Ag egg giants Cal-Maine Foods and Rose Acre Farms fixed egg prices from 2004 to 2008.
But why does that sound so familiar? It’s because big egg producers were price gouging consumers as recently as a few months ago.
Companies like Cal-Maine made a whole bunch of excuses, like avian flu and inflation, to justify the skyrocketing price of eggs in the last few years. But the real reason is corporate greed.
The largest egg producer in the United States, Cal-Maine Foods, reported a whopping 718% increase in profits earlier this year because of sharply higher egg prices.2 We’re calling on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate the egg industry for price gouging and stop this from happening again.
Sign the petition: Tell the FTC to investigate Big Ag egg producers for price gouging!
Across the economy, we’ve seen mega corporations jack up prices on the American people, all while generating historic profits. Chevron, Amazon, Albertsons, Hershey, and others are all making more money than ever, while leaving consumers to foot the bill.3
About the recent spike in egg prices, Farmer advocacy group Farm Action explains: “The real culprit behind this 138% hike in the price of a carton of eggs, appears to be a collusive scheme among industry leaders to turn inflationary conditions and an avian flu outbreak into an opportunity to extract egregious profits reaching as high as 40%.”4
It’s time for the government to take action to rein in out of control corporate greed. Working people should not be struggling to afford food while corporate CEOs make record setting profits. The FTC needs to investigate corporate egg producers for price gouging.
Add your name: Tell the FTC to investigate price gouging in the cost of eggs and stop this from happening again!
Sources:
- Associated Press, "U.S. egg producers conspired to fix prices from 2004 to 2008, a federal jury ruled,” November 22, 2023.
- CNN, "Surging egg prices mean record profits for largest US egg producer,” January 13, 2023.
- Guardian, “Revealed: top US corporations raising prices on Americans even as profits surge,” April 27, 2022.
- Common Dreams, "FTC Urged to Crack Down on Egg Industry's 'Organized Theft,'” January 19, 2023.