Cattle and Beef Antitrust Litigation
United States District Court District of Minnesota
Case No. 0:20-cv-01319
Background
The plaintiffs allege that from at least as early as 2015 through the present, the Defendants entered into a combination, contract or conspiracy to fix, maintain and raise the price of Beef to supracompetitive levels. They allegedly engaged in a scheme using mechanisms that included suppressing throughput of fed cattle thereby creating artificial Beef supply restraints. The alleged conspiracy to suppress the throughput of fed cattle led to Beef prices paid by plaintiffs and direct purchaser class members being higher than they otherwise would have been in a competitive market.
Defendants
Cargill, Inc.
Cargill Meat Solutions Corporation
JBS S.A.
JBS USA Food Company Holdings
Swift Beef Company
JBS Packerland, Inc.
Tyson Foods, Inc.
Tyson Fresh Meats, Inc.
National Beef Packing Company
Marfrig Global Foods S.A.
Co-Conspirators: Agri Stats, Inc., Claxton Poultry Farms, Inc., Harrison Poultry, Inc., Mar-Jac Poultry, Inc.
DPP Proposed Class
All persons and entities who, from January 1, 2015, through February 10, 2022, purchased for use or delivery in the United States, directly from any of the Defendants or their respective subsidiaries and affiliates, boxed or case-ready beef processed from Fed Cattle, excluding ground beef made from culled cows. Excluded from this Class are any federal, state or local governmental entities, any judicial officer presiding over this action and the members of his/her immediate family and judicial staff, and any juror assigned to this action.
CIIP Proposed Class
All commercial and institutional purchasers in the Indirect Purchaser States that purchased beef, once or more, other than directly from Defendants, entities owned or controlled by Defendants, or other producers of beef, from January 1, 2015 to present for their own business use in commercial food preparation.
The Indirect Purchaser States include the following: Arizona, Arkansas, California, DC, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin.