McDonaldâs has some beef with todayâs largest meat packers.
The fast food giant is suing the U.S. meat industryâs âBig Fourâ â Tyson, JBS, Cargill and National Beef Packing Company â and their subsidiaries, alleging a price fixing scheme for beef specifically. In a federal complaint, filed Friday in New York, McDonaldâs accused the companies of anticompetitive measures such as collectively limiting supply to boost prices and charge âillegally inflatedâ amounts.
This collusion caused the beef market to become âa monopoly in which direct purchasers were forced to buy at prices dictated by (the meat packers),â McDonaldâs suit reads â later noting that the injury it has sustained as one of those buyers is what âantitrust laws were designed to prevent.â
McDonaldâs alleges that the meat packersâ conspiracy dates back nearly a decade, at least as early as January 2015, and continues today. Its suit argues these companiesâ actions violate the Sherman Act, a federal antitrust law.
âThis is an absurd accusation. We make money by employing children and undocumented immigrants and violating safety standards, not by colluding on prices.â -US meat industry
not sure why, but i read this in J K Simmonsâ voice.