More than 280,000 eggs have been delivered to City Harvest Food Rescue Center in Brooklyn for New York City families, according to a press release by the Office of the New York State Attorney General. The delivery comes after a multi-state settlement with national distribution companies, in which the NYAG and the U.S. The Department of Justice found that egg producers had a coordinated influence over the daily price index for eggs since as early as 2022.
“Eggs are a staple food for so many families, and as we tackle an affordability crisis, it is unconscionable that egg producers would coordinate to fix egg prices,” said Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso.
The settlement will require the three producers to deliver 53 million eggs to food banks across the country, over 4.9 million of which will be delivered to New York State.
“This delivery will help more than 20,000 New Yorkers in need put food on the table,” said City Harvest CEO Jilly Stephens. According to Stephens, the delivery will come at a crucial time, when nearly 50 % of working-age households in New York City are struggling.
Companies involved include Cal-Maine Foods, the nation’s largest producer of eggs, Versova/Centrium and Hickman’s Egg Ranch. The investigation found that producers had secretly communicated with each other in order to coordinate higher bidding prices, which led to an increase in daily egg price quotes by Urner Barry, the benchmark pricing service.
“Here in New York, we send price gougers scrambling – especially when they try to cheat the hard-working food banks and pantries that feed millions of families daily,” said Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
The first truckload of 280,800 have already been delivered to City Harvest. Statewide deliveries will continue through mid-October.
