Four current and former chicken industry executives, including the CEO of the second-largest chicken producer in the country, were indicted Wednesday on price-fixing charges.
Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. Chief Executive Jayson Penn, former Pilgrim’s Vice President Roger Austin, Claxton Poultry President Mikell Fries, and Claxton Vice President Scott Brady were charged by a Colorado grand jury for allegedly conspiring to fix prices on chickens they sold to restaurants and grocery stores from 2012 to 2017. As a criminal charge, this indictment comes with the possibility of jail time.
Various poultry buyers have accused the chicken industry since 2016 of illegally coordinating to fix prices. The industry giants have denied the allegations.
Price-fixing lawsuits have been filed by some of the biggest names in the food industry, including Walmart, Kroger, Albertsons, Sysco, and US Foods Holding. In a statement last year, a Pilgrim spokesman said the company “strongly denies any allegations of anti-competitive conduct.”
The wholesale price of broiler chickens increased by 50% from 2008-2016, despite a decrease in production costs, but producers say various supply-and-demand factors can explain these increases.
Pilgrim’s, which produces 13.3 billion pounds of chicken annually, saw its stock shares take a dip in response to the indictment. Shares for Tyson Foods and Sanderson Farms also dropped even though they were not a target of the charges.
