Hormel Foods will pay more than $11 million to settle class-action lawsuits alleging the company worked with other pork producers to illegally fix prices and overcharge customers, according to court records.
The proposed settlements, filed in federal court in Minneapolis last week, will see the Austin, Minn.-based food company end the litigation without admitting fault.
Hormel will pay $2.4 million to institutional customers like restaurants and delis; $4.8 million to wholesalers and other direct purchasers; and $4.4 million to consumers, if a federal judge approves the agreements.
The deal "provides compensation that will be available years earlier than if litigation against Hormel Foods continued through trial and appeal," according to one of the settlements.
Lawsuits launched in 2018 allege the companies that control a majority of the nation's pork supply conspired for years to artificially constrict pork supplies to boost prices in violation of antitrust law. The companies did so, according to the complaints, by relying on data gathered and shared by Indiana-based Agri Stats, which the Department of Justice sued last fall.
The pork companies deny the claims, and several — including JBS, Tyson and Smithfield — have paid out more than $200 million combined to settle cases against them.
