The U.S. Department of Justice and six states have settled their antitrust lawsuit against data company Agri Stats in a move DOJ officials said would lower meat prices for consumers.
A similar lawsuit filed in 2021 by Hy-Vee and other grocers against Agri Stats and large meatpackers remains pending.
The DOJ in September 2023 alleged Indiana-based Agri Stats’ weekly reports on meat pricing and sales enabled anti-competitive practices in the chicken, pork and turkey industries. The case was scheduled to go to trial this month.
The Thursday, May 7, settlement limits what data Agri Stats can collect and requires it to offer its data not only to meat processors but also to meat buyers like grocery stores and restaurants.
“This Department of Justice is laser-focused on making everyday life affordable for all Americans,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement.
“A fair market depends on real competition, not privileged access to competitors’ playbooks,” Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward said in the same statement. “When dominant firms share sensitive data in ways that exclude buyers and the public, they gain an artificial advantage that weakens market discipline and drives up prices for everyday Americans. This settlement proves the Department’s commitment to promoting transparency in the marketplace, enforcing the law, and delivering real relief for American consumers at the grocery store.”
States that were party to the Agri Stats settlement were California, Minnesota, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Utah.
Settlement would include seven years of monitoring
Agri Stats President Eric Scholer said in a statement that the company was pleased to resolve the matter. He said the company’s reports have helped chicken producers expand production and reduce costs.
“It has not been easy for a small company to litigate against a massive government agency with unlimited resources, and we could not have achieved this outcome had our customers not stood behind us,” he said.
The DOJ settlement goes farther in some ways than Agri Stats’ recent settlements with meat purchasers and workers that required the company to stop providing meatpackers with competitor or plant-level pricing and wage data.
If approved by the judge overseeing the case, Thursday’s agreement would run for 10 years, as opposed to five in the private settlements. Agri Stats would also be subject to a seven-year monitorship.
The suit involving Hy-Vee, along with supermarket chains Kroger, Albertsons and Save Mart Supermarkets and restaurant supplier US Foods Inc., alleges meatpacking giants Tyson, Smithfield, Triumph and Hormel used Agri Stats reports to decrease the amount of pork on the market and raise prices, violating antitrust laws.
“Agri Stats allowed each member of the conspiracy to monitor each other’s ongoing adherence to agreed-upon plans for coordinated pork production limits,” the suit claims.
Initially, the suit also included as defendants meatpackers Seaboard and Clemens Food Group. The case against Seaboard was dismissed in 2024 and the one against Clemens was dismissed Thursday.
Hundreds of other meat buyers have taken Agri Stats and the packers to court over the last several years, resulting in a wide array of settlements.
Reuters contributed to this article.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Antitrust case over meat price collusion settled; Hy-Vee case continues
Reporting by From staff and news services, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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