U.S. judge allows price-fixing lawsuit against McCain, Cavendish Farms to proceed

A U.S. judge has ruled a class-action lawsuit alleging a price-fixing conspiracy among major frozen potato producers can move forward. The defendants include Canadian companies McCain Foods Limited and Cavendish Farms, as well as U.S. firms Lamb Weston and J.R. Simplot and data provider Circana. The plaintiffs allege the group used Circana's PotatoTrack analytics platform to share sales and pricing information, coordinating hikes for products like french fries and tater tots. The claims, which have not been tested in court, describe an industry "good ol' boys network" that began the alleged scheme in 2021.

Judge Jeffrey I. Cummings issued the ruling on Sept. 17, allowing most claims under federal antitrust law to proceed to the next stage. He dismissed several claims made under various state laws. The case originated in 2024 with a complaint from grocer Redner's Markets and was later consolidated with other similar actions from commercial and consumer plaintiffs. The defendants had jointly argued for dismissal, stating the plaintiffs "failed to adequately plead the existence of a conspiracy in order to state a claim."

The lawsuit points to parallel price increases as evidence, citing instances where companies raised prices by similar amounts on the same day or within days of each other. According to the plaintiffs, frozen potato prices rose 62 per cent between January 2022 and December 2024. They also claim the companies' input costs fell 33 per cent between October 2023 and mid-2025. The frozen potato sector represents about half of the entire U.S. potato market and was valued at US$68 billion in 2023, according to court documents.

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The defendants countered that pandemic-related cost spikes and compressed profit margins provided an "obvious alternative explanation" for the price increases. Judge Cummings rejected that argument, writing that such constraints could give the companies "an even greater incentive to conspire to fix prices." The four potato processors collectively control about 98 per cent of the U.S. frozen potato market, with Lamb Weston holding 40 per cent, McCain 30 per cent, Simplot 20 per cent and Cavendish roughly seven to eight per cent. The plaintiffs' central allegation involves the PotatoTrack platform, which they say provides "individual item level data" for all frozen potato shipments to food service customers. They claim each company receives reports showing its own data alongside data from the other three competitors, compiling proprietary pricing information for outlets like restaurants and schools. "All told, these allegations support a plausible inference that the information exchange occurring at the same time as historic price increases resulted in those anticompetitive effects," the judge wrote.

Beyond the data platform, the plaintiffs argue the companies' executives are "unusually close for competitors," sharing information through hiring each other's former employees and common trade organizations. They allege the producers use shared co-packing arrangements and third-party storage facilities where personnel could check rivals' inventory. The complaint also states the companies exchanged letters detailing effective dates for price increases and attempted to conceal communications, alleging Lamb Weston staff were told to use text messages "to avoid creating emails that could be discovered in the event of an antitrust investigation." McCain Foods separately argued the Illinois court lacked jurisdiction over the company and was an improper venue. Circana contended the plaintiffs did not plausibly allege its participation in a conspiracy and offered no motive for it to do so. The data company describes itself as a leading technology and AI firm serving consumer packaged goods companies. McCain and Cavendish Farms did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Friday.

With files from The Canadian Press, BNN Bloomberg and The Globe and Mail