Major sugar companies hit with class action over alleged price-fixing scheme

Sugar price-fixing class action overview: 

• Who: KPH Healthcare Services filed a class action lawsuit against granulated sugar companies American Sugar Refining, Domino Foods, United Sugars Corp., Michigan Sugar Company and Commodity Information and its principal Richard Wistisen. 
• Why: The companies allegedly fixed the price of sugar by sharing nonpublic information.
• Where: The class action was filed in federal court in New York.

Four major sugar companies face a class action lawsuit accusing them of fixing the price of granulated sugar since at least 2019.

American Sugar Refining (ASR), Domino Foods, United Sugars Corporation and Michigan Sugar Company allegedly shared detailed, nonpublic information on granulated sugar prices to set noncompetitive prices for granulated sugar.

Only United, ASR/Domino and Louisiana Sugar Refining produce granulated sugar from cane sugar in the United States, according to the lawsuit. Michigan Sugar uses sugar beets.

The defendants used Commodity Information to share price information and avoid competing against each other, class action claims.

“Commodity purports to analyze the sugar industry,” the lawsuit says. “However, Commodity has no public presence. It does not maintain a website on the internet. It does not advertise its services to the public. It does not publish publicly available reports on the sugar industry or offer to sell or provide any reports on or analysis of the sugar industry to other than a select few.” 

Sugar prices doubled over 20 years without supply decrease, class action says

The defendants control more than 50% of the granulated sugar market, and prices have more than doubled on an indexed basis over the past 20 years without a decrease in supply, the lawsuit says.

“There is no economic rationale for the rate of price increases,” according to the class action.

Prices are now at their highest level since 1974 after reaching a low point in February 2014, the lawsuit states.

Generic drugmakers, beef processors, broiler chicken, canned tuna producers and private universities agreed to pay millions of dollars in settlements earlier this year to end price-fixing claims. 

Have you noticed an increase in the price of granulated sugar? Let us know in the comments.

The plaintiff is represented by Scott Martin, Michael Hausfeld and Michael Lehmann of Hausfeld LLP; Michael L. Roberts, Erich P. Schork and Sarah E. DeLoach of Roberts Law Firm US PC; and Joseph C. Kohn, William E. Hoese and Douglas A. Abrahams of Kohn, Swift and Graf PC.

The sugar price-fixing class action lawsuit is KPH Healthcare Services Inc. v. ASR Group International Inc., Case No. 1:24-cv-01941, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

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