the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
Mar 3, 2025
In the U.S., the five largest egg-producing companies supply half the nation’s eggs. These huge producers took advantage of their position in 2024 to raise their profits over 250%—two and a half times!—compared to 2023.
The largest producer, Cal-Maine, increased their profit by 340%, from 323 million dollars in 2023 to 1.2 billion dollars in 2024.
Cal-Maine is the only publicly owned corporation that must file its financial reports. The other four are privately owned and keep their figures close to the vest.
An Arkansas professor explained that when an egg shortage develops, the biggest producers are in a position to hold out for the best bid from stores like Kroger or Walmart. It’s extortion. They hold the eggs for a king’s ransom.
Several lawsuits against the big producers’ price-fixing have been filed in the past 20 years. Kraft and General Mills sued in 2011. In the court case, lawyers found an actual letter to the United Egg Producers, stating, “There should be a core segment of the industry that is willing to reduce egg supply in order to achieve profitable egg prices.” In other words, they fix egg prices like OPEC fixes oil prices.
Bird flu for them is just another opportunity to use a small shortage to make large profits. To the public, they can blame bird flu for a shortage and pretend that prices just naturally have to rise.
In 2024, the combined profits of the top five egg producers soared to 1,477,000,000 dollars MORE than the profits they made in 2023.