Consumers in 26 States May Be Eligible for Payout in $87.5 Million Settlement Over Beef Antitrust Lawsuit

Major U.S. beef processors are at the center of a sweeping antitrust lawsuit alleging they conspired to restrict competition and inflate prices for grocery store beef products.

According to a complaint obtained by PEOPLE, the lawsuit, which is pending in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, plaintiffs allege that beef producers, including JBS USA Food Company, Swift Beef Company, JBS Packerland, Inc., Cargill, Inc., Cargill Meat Solutions Corporation, National Beef Packing Company, LLC, Tyson Foods, Inc. and Tyson Fresh Meats, Inc. entered into unlawful agreements to allocate markets and limited the competition between 2014 and 2019.

The complaint claims this alleged market allocation coordinated pricing and production decisions, reducing competition and artificially increasing the price consumers paid for beef products at supermarkets. Plaintiffs say retail beef prices for certain primal cuts — including chuck, loin, rib and round — were higher than they would have been in a competitive market.

The defendants deny wrongdoing, and the court has not determined whether any of the alleged conduct violated antitrust laws.