Cal-Maine Foods, Inc.
TypePublic
Founded1957 (1957)
HeadquartersJackson, Mississippi, U.S.
RevenueDecrease US$1.35 billion (2020)
Total assetsIncrease US$1.21 billion (2020)
Total equityIncrease US$1.01 billion (2020)
Number of employees
3,461 (May 30, 2020)
Websitecalmainefoods.com

Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. is an American fresh egg producer, established in 1969 and based in Jackson, Mississippi. Its eggs are sold mostly in mid-Atlantic, midwestern, southeastern, and southwestern states. These regions account for approximately a quarter of US egg consumption.[1] Cal-Maine is a public company trading on the NASDAQ, headed by its founder, Fred R. Adams, Jr., whose family owns a controlling interest.

Recent history

On May 1, 2012, Cal-Maine announced a joint venture between the cooperative Eggland's Best and Land O'Lakes. Cal-Maine was the largest franchisee of Eggland's Best and one of the company's 13 shareholders. As of 2011, 16 percent of Cal-Maine egg sales were Eggland's Best.[2]

In 2018, an investigation at Lake Wales Farm by the animal rights group Animal Recovery Mission (ARM) indicated that chickens suffered inhumane living conditions and abuse by employees. After further investigation by the Polk County sheriff's department and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), it was found that the farm had followed American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) protocols for euthanizing poultry. No confirmation of abuse was found.[3]

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, in the spring of 2020, Cal-Maine increased egg prices over 300% - from $1 to $3.44 per dozen. This triggered at least one lawsuit challenging the price jump as unjustified, since there hadn't been an actual supply chain interruption.[4]

Early in the morning of December 17, 2020, a fire destroyed two barns at Cal-Maine's Dade City, Florida facilities. The fire killed over 240,000 chickens, including 120,000 pullets; the financial loss was estimated to be over $1 million.[5]

In November 2023, the company was found liable in a lawsuit alleging that it colluded, along with Rose Acre Farms, United Egg Producers, and United States Egg Marketers, to reduce the supply of eggs and increase prices between 2004 and 2008.[6] The plaintiffs in the case, a group of large food manufacturers led by Kraft Foods, originally filed the long-running lawsuit in 2011, but it did not reach trial until October 2023.[7]

Principal subsidiaries

  • Cal-Maine Farms, Inc.
  • Southern Equipment Distributors, Inc.
  • South Texas Applicators, Inc.
  • Cal-Maine Partnership, Ltd.
  • CMF of Kansas, LLCads 2004

References

  1. ↑ Wong, Vanessa (21 March 2017). "Egg Makers Are Freaked Out By The Cage-Free Future". BuzzFeed. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
  2. ↑ "Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. Announces New Joint Venture by Eggland's Best and Land O'Lakes Combining Their Specialty Egg Businesses". Business Wire. May 1, 2012. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
  3. ↑ Francuz, James (January 16, 2018). "Investigation Suggests Brutal Abuse Of Chickens At Lake Wales Farm". Inquisitr. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
  4. ↑ Guerrero, Susana (April 24, 2020). "Suit alleges Costco, Trader Joe's and others hiked egg prices during pandemic". Retrieved April 25, 2020.
  5. ↑ Vigdor, Neil (17 December 2020). "At Least 240,000 Chickens Are Killed in Fire at Florida Egg Farm". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  6. ↑ Volmert, Isabella (2023-11-22). "U.S. egg producers conspired to fix prices from 2004 to 2008, a federal jury ruled". Associated Press. Retrieved 2023-11-25.
  7. ↑ Arcieri, Katie (2023-10-17). "Kraft, Kellogg Go After Egg Producers for Price-Fixing Scheme". Bloomberg Law. Retrieved 2023-11-25.
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