McDonald's Is Suing Major Beef Suppliers For Alleged Price-Fixing

McDonald's has filed a lawsuit against four of the most prominent beef suppliers in the United States, accusing the corporations of falsely limiting the nation's supply of beef in order to charge buyers higher prices. The suit was filed by the fast food chain on October 4, 2024 in a Brooklyn federal court, involving meat companies JBS, Tyson Foods, Cargill, and National Meat Packing. Collectively, these companies produce 85% of beef from steer and heifer cows purchased and distributed in the United States, per USDA.

According to the suit, McDonald's claims that the meat packaging companies "implemented their conspiracy by coordinating, manipulating, or agreeing to pay less than competitive prices for the main or primary input in producing beef." This allegedly allowed corporations to withhold parts of their beef supply, therefore hiking up the prices of the beef products that were sold to companies like McDonald's. The plaintiff alleges that the meatpackers have been conspiring since 2015. Per Reuters, McDonald's is reportedly seeking a currently undisclosed amount of monetary compensation to account for damages, as well as an end to the alleged beef price conspiracy.

Just like how Whole Foods' Berry Chantilly Cake has fallen to "skimpflation" (and soda cans keep shrinking), McDonald's burgers such as the Big Mac and Quarter Pounder have undeniably gotten more expensive in recent years, as a result of the changing economy. Back in May of 2024, President of the company Joe Erlinger responded to customer concerns of big changes to McDonald's menu prices, citing "historic rises in supply chain costs" and "inflationary pressures" as the root cause of the price hikes (via McDonald's). With this new lawsuit, JBS, Tyson Foods, Cargill, and National Meat Packing are accused of creating "artificial" supply chain costs by lying about the availability of beef, resulting in McDonald's paying higher prices than was potentially necessary for nearly a decade.

As of the time of this publication, the four companies facing litigation have not commented on the current suit filed by McDonald's, although they have reportedly claimed no wrongdoing in previous lawsuits with similar circumstances. A case consolidated in a Minnesota federal court also alleged that the four meatpacking companies violated the Sherman Antitrust Act, which prohibits conspiracy amongst companies with intent to manipulate the marketplace and restrict competition. The case was ultimately dismissed due to the plaintiff's "[failure] to establish causation and a direct injury as would be necessary for antitrust standing."