Monitoring Desk
ISLAMABAD/MARYLAND: Two United States (US) lawmakers have sent letters to large egg companies seeking answers for why egg prices have ballooned to record highs in recent months.
The price of eggs was up 150 per cent in January from a year before at 4.80 dollars a dozen, according to the US Bureau of Labour Statistics, increasing concerns among farmers and antitrust advocates who have warned about the power of top agriculture firms to set price.
“US families working to put food on the table deserve to know whether the raised prices they are paying for eggs represent a legitimate response to reduced supply and out-of-control corporate greed,” wrote Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Representative Katie Porter of California.
The letters sent to the CEOs of Cal-Maine Food Hillandale Farms, Rose Acre Farms, Daybreak Foods, and Versova Management.
The United States (US) Department of Agriculture have pointed to record cases of avain flu, which killed more than 58 million chicken and turkeys since the beginning of 2022, as a reason for high prices. But a farm group asked federal regulators to investigate whether egg companies were price gouging.
Spike in prices increases
The lawmakers said that the price spike increases concerns about anti-competitive conduct and requested information on executive compensation, profit margins, avian flu impacts, and companies have communicated with one another about egg prices.
