TSN Tyson Foods

By Dave Sebastian 

Target Corp. is the latest company to sue major poultry producers, accusing them of price-fixing practices that allegedly led to inflated prices of chicken.

The retailer, in a lawsuit filed Friday with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, said it is seeking damages -- the amount to be determined at trial -- and payment of legal fees.

The suit, in line with previously filed cases, alleges that top chicken suppliers, including Claxton Poultry Farms, Fieldale Farms Corp., Perdue Farms Inc., Pilgrim's Pride Corp., Sanderson Farms Inc. and Tyson Foods Inc., collectively reduced production to hike prices and coordinated pricing for meat supplies.

Representatives for Fieldale, Perdue and Tyson said the companies deny the allegations. Claxton and Sanderson representatives declined to comment. Pilgrim's Pride didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Chick-fil-A Inc., the chicken-sandwich giant, also sued the poultry producers in a lawsuit filed Friday. The suits are the latest in the four-year legal battle over alleged collusion among companies that produce the bulk of the roughly 37 billion pounds of chicken consumed annually in the U.S.

Major supermarket operators and food-service distributors have filed civil suits alleging anticompetitive behavior, and this year the Justice Department indicted senior chicken-industry executives and sales officials on criminal charges of bid-rigging and price-fixing. The defendants have pleaded not guilty to the criminal charges, and major chicken companies are contesting the civil-court claims.

Suits have been filed over the past few years by grocery sellers Kroger Co., Walmart Inc. and Albertsons Cos., along with Sysco Corp and US Foods Holding Corp., which supply chicken and other food to hundreds of thousands of food-service customers.

Discount grocery chain Aldi sued chicken suppliers in November, and Golden Corral Corp. and Campbell Soup Co. filed lawsuits in October.

--Jacob Bunge contributed to this article.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 07, 2020 13:44 ET (18:44 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.