Domino and other U.S. sugar companies accused of conspiring to fix prices in antitrust lawsuits

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: CBS News/AP

March 22, 2024 / 5:57 PM EDT


Three antitrust lawsuits filed by food businesses in federal court in Minnesota this week accuse some of the largest U.S. sugar-producing companies of conspiring to fix prices.

The lawsuits name United Sugars, which includes American Crystal Sugar and the Minn-Dak Farmers Cooperative; Domino Sugar; Cargill; other producers, and a commodity data company. The plaintiffs in the class-action lawsuits include Great Harvest Bread in Duluth, Morelos Bakery in St. Paul and the Connecticut restaurant group WNT, the Star Tribune reported.

"Since at least 2019, the Producing Defendants have had an ongoing agreement to artificially raise, fix, stabilize or maintain Granulated Sugar prices in the United States," one of the lawsuits alleges. "To effectuate this agreement, the Producing Defendants engaged in price signaling and exchanges of detailed, accurate, non-public, competitively sensitive information."

The lawsuits, which make broadly similar claims, seek injunctions barring the sugar companies from engaging in illegal conduct and unspecified damages. The sugar industry, which is dominated by a handful of large companies, has faced antitrust scrutiny for decades. A 1978 consent decree banned sugar companies from communicating about future prices or coordinating on sugar sales.

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/domino-sugar-antitrust-lawsuits-price-fixing/

[Oopsie Daisy]

1. I suspect that the manufacturers who package "store brand" sugar are in on it as well.

[twodogsbarking]

2. Sugar is one. There are others.

[BumRushDaShow]

3. They were the first that I encountered

that decided to engage in overt "shrinkflation", when a bunch of years ago, they switched from 5lb bags to 4lb bags. It was done here at the store I go to, initially during the winter holiday season... but then by the spring, the 5lb bags were back. The following winter, they dropped back down to 4lb bags again and stayed there ever since. Of course there was no price change except the periodic "sales".

[sinkingfeeling]

4. Does that explain why sugar is now at $3.99 a bag? I can

remember buying 5 pounds for $.99.

[FakeNoose]

5. K & R ... next go after the coffee companies

I think the coffee packagers invented shrinkflation about 40 years ago. I can remember back around 1980 (or so) there was a bad harvest of coffee beans in Brazil and other areas of South America. Suddenly the prices were doubled and the packages went from 16 ounces down to 14 ounces. Next year's harvest was plentiful, but the coffee prices didn't go back down. Now the retail packages of coffee are down to 12 ounces and we're paying 3 times as much for it. There has to be collusion among all the producers.

[republianmushroom]

6. Looks like the boys got caught with their hands in the sugar barrel.

A little corporate greed ?