CHICAGO (Reuters) – Top U.S. food distributors Sysco Corp and U.S. Foods
Inc have sued the country’s biggest chicken processors for allegedly
conspiring to inflate prices.
The distributors sued companies including Tyson Foods Inc., Pilgrim’s
Pride Corp, Sanderson Farms and Perdue Farms in separate complaints
filed in federal court on Tuesday.
The U.S. chicken sector, which is dominated by these large meat
companies, has come under increased scrutiny in recent years as
customers and farmers have alleged antitrust violations relating to
Tyson, the biggest U.S. chicken company, and Pilgrim’s Pride denied the
latest accusations. Sanderson Farms said it will defend itself against
the claims, while privately held Perdue declined to comment.
Tyson shares were down 3.9 percent in early afternoon trading, and
Sanderson Farms shares lost 3.3 percent. Shares of Pilgrim’s Pride,
mostly owned by Brazilian meat packer JBS SA, were down five percent.
U.S. poultry buyers previously claimed in a 2016 lawsuit that Tyson and
its competitors had colluded since 2008 to reduce output and manipulate
prices.
“Follow-on complaints like these are common in antitrust litigation,”
Tyson spokesman Gary Mickelson said about the lawsuits by Sysco and U.S.
Foods. “Such complaints do not change our position that the claims are
unfounded.”
U.S. chicken processors last year were earning some of the highest
profit margins in more than a decade as prices for corn and soy used to
feed birds slumped due to a global grain glut.
The cases are Sysco Corporation v Tyson Foods Inc et al, U.S. District
Tyson Foods Inc et al, U.S. District Court, Northern District of
Illinois, No. 18-cv-00702.
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