Butterball, Hormel turkey price-fixing settlements get preliminary approval

By Top Class Actions | September 2, 2026

Category: Food

(Photo Credit: Sheila Fitzgerald/Shutterstock)

Turkey price-fixing settlement overview:

Who: Direct purchasers of turkey products reached settlements with Butterball LLC, Hormel Foods Corp. and Jennie-O Turkey Store.
Why: The plaintiffs allege major turkey producers shared competitively sensitive information through Agri Stats Inc. as part of an illegal conspiracy to limit turkey supplies and fix prices.
Where: The turkey price-fixing settlements were reached in Illinois federal court.

An Illinois federal judge has given preliminary approval to two settlements resolving the remaining direct purchaser claims in long-running turkey price-fixing litigation.

U.S. District Judge Sunil R. Harjani approved the proposed $34 million settlement with Butterball and $37.5 million settlement with Hormel Foods and its Jennie-O Turkey Store unit during an Aug. 26 hearing.

The settlements bring the direct purchasers’ total financial recovery in the litigation to $130.7 million.

Judge Harjani said the settlements were appropriate because the parties had extensively litigated the case and had developed the facts needed to assess the strengths and weaknesses of their respective positions before reaching agreements.

The proposed settlements resolve the direct purchasers’ claims against Butterball, Hormel and Jennie-O. Other claims in the broader litigation, including those brought by commercial and institutional indirect purchasers and direct action plaintiffs, are not necessarily resolved by these agreements.

Turkey price-fixing settlements follow years of litigation

The turkey antitrust litigation dates to 2019, when turkey buyers accused major producers of sharing competitively sensitive information about pricing and production levels through Agri Stats.

According to the allegations, the producers used the information to illegally limit turkey supplies and fix prices during periods in 2008 and 2009 and again from 2012 to 2013.

The direct purchasers previously reached settlements with other defendants, including Prestage Foods and House of Raeford Farms. The $34 million Butterball agreement and $37.5 million Hormel and Jennie-O agreement represent the final settlements resolving the direct purchasers’ claims in the litigation, according to the court proceedings.

Judge Harjani previously ruled that the plaintiffs had sufficient economic data and documentary evidence to allow a jury to consider whether Butterball, Jennie-O, Prestage Farms and a Prestage subsidiary participated in a conspiracy that would constitute a per se violation of the Sherman Act.

However, the judge determined that the plaintiffs did not have enough evidence to proceed with a separate claim concerning whether the companies’ information-sharing through Agri Stats violated antitrust law under the rule-of-reason standard.

The judge also dismissed claims against Foster Farms, Perdue, Hormel Foods and Prestage’s South Carolina unit after finding the evidence did not support either liability theory against those defendants.

The court’s preliminary approval means the settlements can proceed pending final approval. The settlements also do not indicate that the defendants admitted wrongdoing or liability.

What do you think about the proposed turkey price-fixing settlements? Let us know in the comments.

The plaintiffs are represented by Brian D. Clark, W. Joseph Bruckner, Simeon A. Morbey, Steve E. Serdikoff, Olivia T. Levinson, Arielle S. Wagner, Eura Chang and Kyle J. Pozan of Lockridge Grindal Nauen PLLP and Shana E. Scarlett, Rio S. Pierce, Abby R. Wolf, Sarah E. Dupree, Steve Berman and Breanna Van Engelen of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP.

The turkey price-fixing lawsuit is In re: Turkey Antitrust Litigation, Case No. 1:19-cv-08318, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.