Us Senator Elizabeth Warren on called on the Justice Department to open an investigation on the impact of price- fixing and consolidation in the poultry sector on consumers and farmers, reported Reuters.
The former Democratic presidential candidate also urged the department’s Antitrust Division to review “with suspicion” any large mergers in the industry, after Cargill Inc and Continental Grain said in August they would buy chicken company Sanderson Farms for $4.53 billion.
Warren said in a letter that consumers are paying higher prices because of excessive consolidation, price-fixing and “plain-old corporate greed.”
Prices for chicken breasts have jumped 26% over the past year, according to U.S. Labor Department data, while turkey prices were up 24% in an annual American Farm Bureau Federation survey ahead of Thanksgiving.
The meat industry has said increased demand and the labor shortage have boosted prices. Four processors control 54% of the chicken market, up from 35% in 1986, according to the Biden administration.
“Lack of competition in the poultry industry is allowing these massive companies to squeeze both American consumers and farmers to fuel record corporate profits and payouts to shareholders,” Warren said.
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