— The nation’s largest food distributor has joined the other businesses accusing the four largest meat processors of working together to inflate beef prices. The Sysco Corp. lawsuit said the companies’ coordinated efforts to limit the number of cattle slaughtered drove down the price meat processors paid ranchers while propping up beef prices, boosting profits for the meat producers, who …
— Smithfield Foods will pay restaurants and caterers $42 million to settle a lawsuit that accused the giant meat producer of conspiring to inflate pork prices, which will likely only add to concerns about how the lack of competition in the industry affects meat prices. Previously, Smithfield settled with a different group of pork buyers for $83 million, and JBS …
— Meatpacking giant JBS has agreed to a $52.5 million settlement in a beef price-fixing lawsuit that some say supports their concerns about how the lack of competition in the industry affects prices. Colorado-based JBS didn’t admit any wrongdoing as part of the settlement, and company spokeswoman Nikki Richardson said JBS will continue to defend itself against other plaintiffs in …
