McDonald’s files lawsuit against pork suppliers over price-fixing claims

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McDonald’s pork price-fixing lawsuit overview:

• Who: McDonald’s is suing a number of pork suppliers and the data platform Agri Stats.
• Why: The fast food company alleges the companies conspired to fix the price of pork.
• Where: McDonald’s pork price-fixing lawsuit was filed in a New York federal court.

McDonald’s is the latest restaurant brand to file a lawsuit against pork suppliers, alleging they conspired to engage in a pork price-fixing scheme, cutting into the burger-seller’s bottom line.

McDonald’s filed the lawsuit against pork processing plants Clemens, Hormel, JBS Foods USA, Seaboard Foods, Smithfield Food, Triumph Foods and Tyson Foods on Nov. 25 in a New York federal court, alleging violations of antitrust laws. 

According to the lawsuit, McDonald’s has been paying inflated prices for bacon, sausage and ham products due to the processing plants’ collusion, facilitated by data sharing service Agri Stats, also a defendant in the case.

McDonald’s alleges that the pork producers started to fix the price of pork around 2008, after agreeing to share their commercially sensitive information about prices, capacity and demand with one another through Agri Stats.

The producers were able to compare profits secretly without sharing that information with the public, the lawsuit says.

As a result, the companies were able to inflate and fix the market price of pork, McDonald’s claims.

Agri Stats also profited from price-fixing scheme, lawsuit alleges

Agri Stats profited from the allegedly illegal scheme by charging the pork companies millions to compare data on the platform, the McDonald’s pork lawsuit alleges.

With the information at hand, the pork producers were able to control the supply and demand of pork, raising prices and secretly controlling the market, McDonald’s says.

“While defendants went to great lengths to keep the existence of the conspiracy a secret, they admitted in public calls that they had discussed production cuts at least once, and publicly signaled to each other that no supply increases would happen,” McDonald’s states.

The fast food producer is suing under federal antitrust laws and is seeking damage, fees and costs. 

Smithfield and other pork processing companies have previously faced near identical claims in another multidistrict case.

Meanwhile, earlier this month, a judge preliminarily approved a $75 million settlement to end some allegations against Smithfield Foods brought by indirect consumers claiming the company participated in a scheme to inflate pork prices.

What do you think about the McDonald’s pork price-fixing lawsuit? Let us know in the comments! 

McDonald’s is represented by Philip J. Iovieno, Nicholas A. Gravante, Jr. Lawrence S. Brandman, Jack G. Stern, Gillian Groarke Burns, Mark A. Singer, Elizabeth R. Moore and Zygimante Andrijauskaite of Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP.

The McDonald’s pork case is McDonald’s Corp. v. Agri Stats Inc., et al., Case No. 1:22-cv-07182, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

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