On September 28th, the Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit against AgriStats, Inc. The Agency claims that AgriStats, Inc. exchanged confidential information at the expense of competition within the meat and poultry industry. The complaint was filed with the District Court of Minnesota and alleges violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Antitrust Act by distributing “competitively sensitive” data on production costs, worker compensation and production levels.
The complaint notes that data distributed by AgriStats encompassed 90 percent of U. S. broiler and turkey production and 80 percent of U. S. pork. The DOJ further noted that through the exchange of information, subscribers to the AgriStats systems were able to manipulate markets and prices.
Jonathan Kanter, Assistant Attorney General of the Antitrust Division, stated, “The Justice Department is committed to addressing anticompetitive information exchanges that result in consumers paying more for chicken, pork and turkey.” He added, “This case is the latest effort by the Justice Department to protect American consumers, farmers and workers from anticompetitive practices in the agricultural industry.”
AgriStats has functioned since 1985 and claims that it has made the respective industries more efficient resulting in lower prices for consumers. In 2012, the company was subject to an antitrust investigation by the Department of Justice without finding wrongdoing.
AgriStats was a co-defendant in the broiler chicken antitrust litigation that resulted in settlements by the majority of defendants but with cases yet to proceed to trial. The Company was dismissed as a co-defendant.
The Department of Justice under Jonathan Kanter was unsuccessful in convincing judges and juries that collusion had occurred between two specific broiler integrators with dismissals and hung juries in a series of cases, without obtaining a criminal conviction. Notwithstanding the outcome of the criminal cases, the prominent integrator whose executives including the CEO and his successor were implicated, settled with the Department of Justice for a substantial penalty.