throbber
Case: 1:20-cv-02295 Document #: 1 Filed: 04/13/20 Page 1 of 85 PageID #:1
`
`UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
`
`NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS
`
`EASTERN DIVISION
`
`
`
`No.
`
`
`CLASS ACTION COMPLAINT
`
`
`
`
`
`DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL
`
`
`
`Plaintiff,
`
`v.
`
`SANDEE’S CATERING,
`
`
`
`
`
`AGRI STATS, INC., BUTTERBALL LLC,
`CARGILL, INC., CARGILL MEAT
`SOLUTIONS CORPORATION, COOPER
`FARMS, INC., FARBEST FOODS, INC.,
`FOSTER FARMS, LLC, FOSTER POULTRY
`FARMS, THE HILLSHIRE BRANDS
`COMPANY, HORMEL FOODS
`CORPORATION, HORMEL FOODS, LLC,
`HOUSE OF RAEFORD FARMS, INC.,
`KRAFT HEINZ FOODS COMPANY, KRAFT
`FOODS GROUP BRANDS LLC, PERDUE
`FARMS, INC., PERDUE FOODS LLC,
`TYSON FOODS, INC., TYSON FRESH
`MEATS, INC. AND TYSON PREPARED
`FOODS, INC.,
`
`
`
`
`
`Defendants.
`
`
`
`

`

`Case: 1:20-cv-02295 Document #: 1 Filed: 04/13/20 Page 2 of 85 PageID #:2
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`TABLE OF CONTENTS
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`Page
`
`I.
`
`II.
`
`NATURE OF ACTION .......................................................................................................1
`
`JURISDICTION AND VENUE ........................................................................................13
`
`III.
`
`PARTIES ...........................................................................................................................14
`
`A.
`
`B.
`
`C.
`
`Plaintiff ..................................................................................................................14
`
`Defendants .............................................................................................................15
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`Co-Conspirators .....................................................................................................19
`
`IV.
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`FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS ............................................................................................20
`
`A.
`
`B.
`
`C.
`
`D.
`
`Agri Stats’ information exchange services began in the broiler
`industry, where it has been used to facilitate widespread collusion. .....................20
`
`Defendants entered into an agreement to exchange information
`through Agri Stats regarding their production and sales of turkey. .......................23
`
`Defendants possess market power in the market for turkey and
`turkey is the type of product for which information exchange is
`particularly likely to have anticompetitive effects. ................................................27
`
`1.
`2.
`
`Defendants have market power in the market for turkey. ..........................27
`There are high barriers to entry in the market for turkey for
`meat consumption. .....................................................................................28
`The defendants have market power in the market for turkey
`for meat consumption. ...............................................................................29
`The market for turkey is the type of market where the information
`exchanges orchestrated by Agri Stats are likely to harm competition. ..................30
`
`3.
`
`1.
`2.
`3.
`4.
`5.
`
`The turkey market features few sellers. .....................................................31
`Turkey is a fungible market. ......................................................................31
`The turkey market features price-based competition. ................................31
`Demand for turkey is relatively inelastic. ..................................................32
`The turkey market features a trend towards price uniformity. ...................32
`
`
`
`i
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`Case: 1:20-cv-02295 Document #: 1 Filed: 04/13/20 Page 3 of 85 PageID #:3
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`E.
`
`F.
`
`Industry-wide production cuts during the Conspiracy Period were
`facilitated through the information exchange conducted through
`Agri Stats. ..............................................................................................................32
`
`Abnormal pricing during the Class Period demonstrates the
`anticompetitive effects of the exchange of turkey information
`conducted through the Agri Stats sales reports. .....................................................33
`
`1.
`
`2.
`
`3.
`
`The average turkey wholesale price experienced an
`unprecedented increase beginning in 2009. ...............................................33
`Beginning in 2009, defendants’ revenues radically diverged
`from their costs. .........................................................................................34
`During the conspiracy period, prices rose but production
`failed to rise to match demand, indicating an anticompetitive
`restraint on supply in the market for turkey facilitated by the
`information exchange through Agri Stats. .................................................36
`During the conspiracy period, prices of turkey radically
`diverged from the costs of underlying feed. ..............................................37
`A regression model demonstrates the anticompetitive effects
`on the price of turkey caused by the information exchange
`conducted through Agri Stats. ....................................................................38
`Defendants actively concealed the extent of their information
`exchange and plaintiff did not and could not have discovered
`defendants’ anticompetitive conduct. ....................................................................39
`
`4.
`
`5.
`
`G.
`
`H.
`
`Defendants had numerous opportunities to collude. ..............................................41
`
`CLASS ACTION ALLEGATIONS ..................................................................................42
`
`ANTITRUST INJURY ......................................................................................................46
`
`V.
`
`VI.
`
`VII. CAUSES OF ACTION ......................................................................................................47
`
`VIII. REQUEST FOR RELIEF ..................................................................................................79
`
`IX.
`
`JURY TRIAL DEMANDED .............................................................................................81
`
`
`
`
`
`ii
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`

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`Case: 1:20-cv-02295 Document #: 1 Filed: 04/13/20 Page 4 of 85 PageID #:4
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`Plaintiff brings this action on behalf of itself individually and on behalf of a plaintiff class
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`consisting of all commercial and institutional indirect purchasers of turkey that purchased turkey
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`other than directly from a defendant or co-conspirator in the United States beginning at least as
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`early as January 1, 2010 through January 1, 2017 (Class Period).1 Plaintiff brings this action for
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`damages, injunctive relief, and other relief pursuant to various federal and state antitrust laws and
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`state unfair competition laws and unjust enrichment laws. Plaintiff demands a trial by jury.
`
`I.
`
`NATURE OF ACTION
`
`1.
`
`The turkey integrator defendants are the leading suppliers of turkey in an industry
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`with approximately $5 billion in annual commerce. The turkey industry is highly concentrated,
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`with a small number of large producers in the United States controlling supply. Defendants and
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`their co-conspirators collectively control approximately 80 percent of the wholesale turkey
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`market in the United States. The turkey integrator defendants are Butterball LLC (Butterball);
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`Cargill Inc. and Cargill Meat Solutions Corporation, (together and separately, Cargill); Cooper
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`Farms, Inc. (Cooper Farms); Farbest Foods, Inc., (Farbest); Foster Farms LLC and Foster Poultry
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`Farms (together and separately, Foster Farms); Hormel Foods Corporation and Hormel Foods
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`LLC (together and separately, Hormel); House of Raeford Farms, Inc., (House of Raeford); Kraft
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`Heinz Foods Company and Kraft Foods Group Brands LLC (together and separately, Kraft
`
`Foods), Perdue Farms, Inc. and Perdue Foods LLC (together and separately, Perdue); Tyson
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`Foods, Inc., The Hillshire Brands Company, Tyson Fresh Meats, Inc. and Tyson Prepared Foods,
`
`Inc. (together and separately, Tyson).
`
`
`1 For purposes of this complaint, turkey includes turkey meat purchased fresh or frozen, and
`either uncooked or cooked.
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`
`
`1
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`

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`2.
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`Defendant Agri Stats is a company that provides secretive information exchange
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`services to companies in a variety of agricultural sectors, including pork, chicken, and turkey.
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`3.
`
`The turkey integrator defendants each entered into an agreement from at least
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`2010 to January 1, 2017, to exchange sensitive information through Agri Stats regarding their
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`production and sales of turkey.
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`4.
`
`Agri Stats reports are far different from lawful industry reports. Agri Stats gathers
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`detailed financial and production data from each of the turkey integrators, standardizes this
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`information, and produces customized reports and graphs for the co-conspirators. On a monthly
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`basis, Agri Stats provides the turkey integrators with current and forward-looking sensitive
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`information (such as profits, costs, prices and slaughter information).
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`5.
`
`The United States Supreme Court has long recognized that “exchanges of current
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`price information, of course, have the greatest potential for generating anticompetitive effects.”2
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`Agri Stats’ sales reports prove the truth of that maxim. Agri Stats prepared monthly reports for
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`defendants regarding their sales of turkey that identified, on a specific product by product level,
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`the prices and returns that each defendant was obtaining on their sales of turkey. These reports,
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`unavailable to anybody besides Agri Stats subscribers, allowed the integrator defendants to
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`easily identify potential opportunities where their prices for turkey products were significantly
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`lower than their competitors.
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`6.
`
`Turkey is the relevant product market and the geographic market is the
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`continental United States. Defendants collectively possess market power in the market for
`
`turkey. Defendants and co-conspirators collectively possessed approximately 80 percent of the
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`overall market share for turkeys during the Class Period.
`
`
`2 United States v. U.S. Gypsum Co., 438 U.S. 422, 443 (1978).
`
`
`
`2
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`

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`7.
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`Blair Snyder, a senior executive at Agri Stats, publicly stated in 2009 that “about
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`95% of the turkey industry [is] participating” in Agri Stats, and that for “turkey participants,
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`pretty much it’s a list of who’s who in the turkey business.” This is a comparable portion to the
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`percentage of broiler chicken industry participating in Agri Stats reports, with Mr. Snyder stating
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`that “we’ve got high 90 percentage of both broilers and turkeys.”
`
`8.
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`Each one of the defendants and co-conspirators entered into an agreement to
`
`exchange information through Agri Stats. Each defendant’s agreement to exchange information
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`regarding turkey production is shown in the below 2010 excerpt from an Agri Stats presentation
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`that lists the participants in Agri Stats’ turkey reports.
`
`9.
`
`This 2010 presentation slide shows that each of the defendant integrator and Co-
`
`Conspirator Integrators entered into an agreement to exchange information regarding their turkey
`
`operations through Agri Stats during the conspiracy period. The document directly identifies
`
`
`
`3
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`

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`defendants Butterball, Cargill, Cooper’s, Farbest, Foster Farms, House of Raeford and Perdue
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`Farms, as participants in Agri Stats’s reports on turkey. The document directly identifies Co-
`
`Conspirators Circle-S Ranch, Prestage Farms, and West Liberty Foods as participants in Agri
`
`Stats’ reports on turkey. Jennie-O is the brand name for Hormel’s turkey operations and thus
`
`Hormel participated in Agri Stats’ reports on turkey. The document also identifies Louis Rich, a
`
`Kraft Foods brand that produces turkey, as receiving Agri Stats reports, and thus Kraft Foods
`
`participated in Agri Stats’ reports on turkey. Sara Lee’s turkey operations, Hillshire Brands, was
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`subsequently acquired by Tyson in 2014 and thus Tyson participated in Agri Stats’ reports on
`
`turkey.
`
`10.
`
`The information exchange by the defendant integrators through Agri Stats is
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`exactly the type of information exchange that the Supreme Court has recognized is likely to have
`
`anticompetitive effects under a rule of reason analysis. First, the data is current and forward-
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`looking – which courts consistently hold has “the greatest potential for generating
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`anticompetitive effects.”3 Second, information contained in Agri Stats reports is specific to the
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`turkey producers, including information on profits, prices, costs and production levels. Third,
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`none of the Agri Stats information was publicly available. Agri Stats is a subscription service,
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`which required the defendant integrators to pay hefty fees over the Class Period – far in excess of
`
`any other pricing and production indices and to agree to volunteer their own data. “Public
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`dissemination is a primary way for data exchange to realize its pro-competitive potential.”4 Agri
`
`Stats ensured that its detailed, sensitive business information was available only to the co-
`
`conspirators and not to any buyers in the market. Thus, for example, buyers on the market could
`
`
`3 Todd v. Exxon Corp., 275 F.3d 191, 2011 (2d Cir. 2001) (Sotomayor, J.) (quoting United
`States v. Gypsum Co., 438 U.S. 422, 441 n.16 (1978)).
`4 Id. at 213.
`
`
`
`4
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`

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`not use Agri Stats data in Agri Stats sales reports to negotiate lower prices; instead, only
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`defendants could use it as a way to identify opportunities to raise their prices.
`
`11.
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`Indeed, Agri Stats specifically marketed itself to potential participants as a way
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`that they could “improve profitability” rather than engage in competition through production
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`increases. Agri Stats was good to its word; its sales reports specifically identified opportunities
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`for defendants where defendants’ products were lower than that of the industry average and
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`where defendants could consequently raise prices to meet that of their competitors.
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`12.
`
`Industry participants relied on Agri Stats reports in their analysis of their business
`
`operations. For example, Hormel, at its 2011 Investor Day, stated in its presentation that “when
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`you optimize the supply chain” you “improve your relative industry position (Agri Stats).”
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`Hormel also touted that “Jennie-O Turkey Store is consistently one of the top companies in
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`operating profits (Agri Stats).”
`
`13.
`
`Confidential Witness 1 (CW1) is a former sales executive at Butterball involved
`
`in the pricing of turkeys. CW1 was employed at Butterball during the entire Class Period. CW1
`
`stated that Butterball relied on the monthly reports issued by Agri Stats: “The company used the
`
`information to evaluate — by item, item group, price, distribution — where we stood against
`
`other turkey companies.” CW1 stated that he and other sales personnel looked at Agri Stats data
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`to see how Butterball ranked against peers in the turkey industry. CW1 stated that he personally
`
`looked at the Agri Stats data to assess costs and returns. CW1 stated that costs were an important
`
`factor in determining how Butterball set its prices.
`
`14.
`
`Confidential Witness 2 (CW2) is a former accountant at Cooper Farms. CW2
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`stated that Cooper Farms received monthly reports from Agri Stats. In addition, Agri Stats
`
`representatives met with Cooper Farms executives every six months. CW2 stated that Cooper
`
`
`
`5
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`

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`Case: 1:20-cv-02295 Document #: 1 Filed: 04/13/20 Page 9 of 85 PageID #:9
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`Farms submitted cost information to Agri Stats every month. CW2 explained that Agri Stats
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`reports grouped data into various types of turkey products, including deli meat and smoked meat.
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`15.
`
`CW2 stated that Agri Stats representatives regularly met with the Cooper
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`Leadership Management Group, which included top management and executives from Cooper
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`Farms. CW2 stated that “the upper group received advice” from Agri Stats. CW2 stated that the
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`advice from Agri Stats helped Cooper Farms improve its returns per pound.
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`16.
`
`Agri Stats reports also contained detailed information on industry-wide supply
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`levels. For example, a job description of an Agri Stats employee stated that they analyzed Turkey
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`“breeder flock and hatchery data” as well as Turkey “growout flocks.”
`
`17.
`
`Based on publicly available information filed in a February 7, 2018, complaint in
`
`the Broiler Chicken Antitrust Litigation, 5 Agri Stats data on growout flocks contained
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`information such as the number of broilers placed, chick mortality by week and overall
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`percentage, chick cost, days between flocks provided to contract farmers (aka, “down time”),
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`feed conversion rate (pounds of feed per pound of broiler), and average daily weight. On
`
`information and belief, the growout data that Agri Stats compiled for the turkey industry
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`contained similar levels of data. This type of data allowed defendants to monitor industry-wide
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`supply levels.
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`18.
`
`Although Agri Stats reports are nominally anonymous, defendant integrators were
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`often able to deanonymize the reports to identify the data of specific companies based on their
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`industry knowledge. CW2 stated that he could determine the identity of companies in Agri Stats
`
`reports because “you could usually figure out who was who because they have a certain cooked
`
`
`5 In re Broiler Chicken Antitrust Litigation, Case No. 1:16-cv-08637 (N.D. Ill.) (ECF No.
`710)
`
`
`
`6
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`

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`Case: 1:20-cv-02295 Document #: 1 Filed: 04/13/20 Page 10 of 85 PageID #:10
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`meat, or if they were browning and running it through an oven.” CW2 further stated that “we
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`could sit there and discuss it, because a lot of us knew what the other plants in the big areas, what
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`they did.” For example, CW2 stated that one competitor company had five separate facilities
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`included in the Agri Stats reports, and that therefore, it was easy to determine the identity of that
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`company.
`
`19.
`
`Confidential Witness 3 (CW3) is a former employee of Cargill during the
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`conspiracy period. CW3 stated that Cargill received monthly reports from Agri Stats on turkey.
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`CW3 stated that the monthly Agri Stats turkey reports went directly to Cargill finance
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`executives.
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`20.
`
`Throughout the conspiracy period, defendant integrators were able to exercise a
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`remarkable level of industry-wide restraint in keeping the growth of turkey supply in check,
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`causing turkey prices to rise. Thus, Agri Stats had the anticompetitive effect of allowing
`
`defendants to engage in collusion to restrain the supply of turkey by facilitating information
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`exchange about supply levels throughout the industry. The industry-wide cuts in turkey
`
`production during the conspiracy period are shown in the following chart:
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`
`
`7
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`21.
`
`In a competitive market, production generally matches demand. More demand
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`will lead to more supply. Conversely, a drop in production caused by falling demand should
`
`correspond to falling prices. However, in the turkey market during the conspiracy period,
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`production, measured through USDA data, remained artificially restrained even as demand,
`
`captured by higher per capita expenditures on turkey, rose significantly. These observed price
`
`and output dynamics, shown in the below analysis performed by experts, indicate that it was not
`
`falling demand that caused a decline in supply during the conspiracy period.
`
`22.
`
`In addition to their participation in Agri Stats, defendant integrators had frequent
`
`opportunities to communicate, in conjunction with formal meetings of various trade associations.
`
`In particular, the National Turkey Federation each year held regular meetings, including the NTF
`
`Annual Convention and the NTF Leadership conference, which were widely attended by the
`
`defendant integrators. CW3 stated that senior Cargill executives, including Cargill’s CEO and
`
`CFO, attended National Turkey Federation meetings. For example, CW2 stated that Cooper
`
`
`
`8
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`

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`Farms leadership were involved in the National Turkey Federation, for example Cooper Farms
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`COO Gary Cooper served as immediate past chairman of the NTF board in 2014.
`
`23.
`
`Collectively, Hormel, Cargill, and Butterball control approximately 50 percent of
`
`the turkey market. Hormel is the only publicly traded company among these three. In its earnings
`
`calls during the conspiracy period, Hormel repeatedly discussed the industry-wide success in
`
`executing production cuts and maintaining industry-wide production discipline during the Class
`
`Period.
`
`24.
`
`On June 2, 2009, Hormel emphasized that it was making production cuts in
`
`response to an alleged oversupply in the market and closely monitoring the overall level of
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`production in the market, showing the importance of the kind of information exchanged through
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`Agri Stats:
`
`There is an oversupply of turkey. There continues to be perhaps more
`production as well as cold storage stocks than the demand would
`warrant. We have been very deliberate about making the appropriate
`production cuts. We announced them over a year ago. And we have
`even exceeded the amount we expected to reduce. We have seen the
`placements and indicators of forward looking supply come down, so
`that was as expected, and we expected the second half of 2009 to be a
`little kinder in the turkey side of the business, but there is still a lot of
`storage, cold storage stocks to go through, we feel comfortable that
`we’ve cleaned up our inventories that we had on hand. Our production
`cuts were more than the decrease in our sales because we did work off
`inventories. I had a feeling the industry will rebound. It's going to take
`a work through of the excess inventories as well as those production
`cuts hitting the marketplace.
`
`25.
`
`On August 20, 2010, Hormel stated, “We think the turkey business has reached a
`
`good equilibrium, and we don’t have any major expansion plans and have not heard others in
`
`that mode, so I think those conditions should remain favorable into next year.”
`
`26.
`
`On May 25, 2011, Hormel stated that the turkey industry was maintaining solid
`
`pricing based on the information that Hormel was receiving about industry-wide turkey
`
`
`
`9
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`

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`production levels: “We certainly see egg set and poultry placement numbers that take us through
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`the end of this year and a little bit into next fiscal year. But right now, on the basis of those
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`numbers, on the basis of what we see in terms of production in the industry and on the basis of
`
`cold storage numbers, coupled with still strong demand on the export side, we feel that the
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`amount of product going to market will support solid pricing on a commodity basis.”
`
`27.
`
`On August 25, 2011, Hormel stated that the turkey industry was maintaining
`
`better discipline than the poultry industry: “The industry as a whole has shown a little better
`
`discipline, perhaps, than the other poultry side of the ledger.” This statement is notable because
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`the chicken industry is currently the subject of multiple civil lawsuits as well as a DOJ
`
`investigation of potential antitrust violations during this period of time.
`
`28.
`
`Furthermore, the turkey market has all of the characteristics of a market where
`
`information exchange is likely to have anticompetitive effects. Turkey is a fungible product, the
`
`market for turkey has price-based competition, the demand for turkey is relatively inelastic, and
`
`the turkey market features a trend towards price uniformity.
`
`29.
`
`The information exchange through Agri Stats did not have the kind of
`
`characteristics that would produce procompetitive effects sufficient to outweigh the
`
`anticompetitive harms. The information exchange involved current and forward-looking data.
`
`Agri Stats regularly prepared monthly reports that contained data that was less than six weeks
`
`old. Agri Stats also only allowed companies to access the data if they themselves shared the data,
`
`thus ensuring that only defendants and other similarly situated turkey integrators who received
`
`the Agri Stats reports were able to use the data.
`
`
`
`10
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`

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`30.
`
`During the conspiracy period, the price of turkey spiked dramatically, driven by
`
`the anticompetitive effects of the information exchange through Agri Stats regarding turkey
`
`production that helped facilitate defendants’ restraint over the growth in the supply of turkey.
`
`31.
`
`The information exchange through Agri Stats in fact had anticompetitive effects
`
`on the market. Prior to the conspiracy, turkey prices closely tracked the underlying cost of feed,
`
`which is the primary input cost in the production of turkey. Beginning in 2009-2010, prices of
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`turkey spiked to an unprecedented level, showing the anticompetitive effects of defendants’
`
`information exchange through Agri Stats. Remarkably, as demonstrated in the analysis
`
`performed by experts, shown in the below chart, prices of turkey quickly returned to match
`
`underlying feed costs after litigation was filed in late 2016 in the broiler industry that centered on
`
`the anticompetitive use of Agri Stats. Defendants clearly changed their behavior after the
`
`commencement of the Broilers litigation, as Tyson dismissed their CEO, Donnie Smith, in late
`
`2016, shortly after the first civil lawsuits were filed.
`
`
`
`11
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`

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`Feed accounts for approximately 60-70% of the cost of raising a turkey. Experts
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`32.
`
`constructed a regression model based on the underlying feed cost that models what the “but for”
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`price of turkey would have been if the historical relationship between feed and turkey costs had
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`continued during the conspiracy period. The model demonstrates that the anticompetitive
`
`information exchange of data regarding turkey production through Agri Stats caused
`
`anticompetitive effects in the market for turkey.
`
`
`
`12
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`33.
`
`As a result of defendants’ unlawful conduct, plaintiff and the Classes paid
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`artificially inflated prices for turkey during the Class Period. Such prices exceeded the amount
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`they would have paid if the price for turkey had been determined by a competitive market. Thus,
`
`plaintiff and class members were injured by defendants’ agreement to exchange information
`
`through Agri Stats regarding the turkey market.
`
`II.
`
`JURISDICTION AND VENUE
`
`34.
`
`This Court has subject matter jurisdiction over the claims asserted in this litigation
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`under 28 U.S.C. § 1332 because the amount in controversy for each of the Classes exceeds
`
`$5,000,000, there are more than 100 members in each of the Classes, and there are members of
`
`each of the Classes who are citizens of different states than Defendants. This Court also has
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`subject matter jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1331 because plaintiff is bringing a claim for
`
`injunctive relief under federal law.
`
`35.
`
`Venue is appropriate in this District under 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b), (c) and (d)
`
`because both Kraft Foods and Hillshire Brands are headquartered in the District, and one or more
`
`
`
`13
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`

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`defendants transacted business in this District, is licensed to do business or is doing business in
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`this District, and because a substantial portion of the affected interstate commerce described
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`herein was carried out in this District.
`
`36.
`
`This Court has personal jurisdiction over each defendant because, inter alia, each
`
`defendant: (a) transacted business throughout the United States, including in this District;
`
`(b) manufactured, sold, shipped, and/or delivered substantial quantities of turkey throughout the
`
`United States, including in this District; (c) had substantial contacts with the United States,
`
`including in this District; and/or (d) engaged in an antitrust conspiracy that was directed at and
`
`had a direct, foreseeable, and intended effect of causing injury to the business or property of
`
`persons residing in, located in, or doing business throughout the United States, including in this
`
`District.
`
`37.
`
`The activities of the defendants and all co-conspirators, as described herein, were
`
`within the flow of, were intended to, and did have direct, substantial, and reasonably foreseeable
`
`effects on, the foreign and interstate commerce of the United States.
`
`A.
`
`Plaintiff
`
`III.
`
`PARTIES
`
`38.
`
`Plaintiff Sandee’s Catering is a bakery and deli located in Jamestown, New York.
`
`During the Class Period, Plaintiff purchased turkey in New York, once or more, other than
`
`directly from Defendants, entities owned or controlled by Defendants, or other producers of
`
`turkey. The turkey purchased by Plaintiff was impacted by the conduct of one or more of the
`
`Defendants, constituting an antitrust violation as alleged herein, and plaintiff suffered monetary
`
`loss as a result of the antitrust violations alleged herein.
`
`
`
`14
`
`

`

`Case: 1:20-cv-02295 Document #: 1 Filed: 04/13/20 Page 18 of 85 PageID #:18
`
`B.
`
`Defendants
`
`39.
`
`Agri Stats, Inc. is an Indiana corporation located in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
`
`Throughout the Class Period, Agri Stats acted as a co-conspirator of the turkey integrator
`
`defendants by facilitating the exchange of confidential, proprietary, and competitively sensitive
`
`data among defendants and their co-conspirators.
`
`40.
`
`Butterball, LLC is a privately held North Carolina corporation engaged in the
`
`production of meat and food products, and the marketing of these products. During the Class
`
`Period, Butterball and/or its predecessors, wholly owned or controlled subsidiaries, or affiliates
`
`sold turkey in interstate commerce, directly or through its wholly owned or controlled affiliates,
`
`to purchasers in the United States.
`
`41.
`
`Cargill, Inc. is a privately held Delaware corporation headquartered in
`
`Minnetonka, Minnesota. During the Class Period, Cargill and/or its predecessors, wholly owned
`
`or controlled subsidiaries, or affiliates sold turkey in interstate commerce, directly or through its
`
`wholly owned or controlled affiliates, to purchasers in the United States.
`
`42.
`
`Cargill Meat Solutions Corporation is a Delaware corporation that operates as a
`
`subsidiary of Cargill, Incorporated. During the Class Period, Cargill Meat Solutions and/or its
`
`predecessors, wholly owned or controlled subsidiaries, or affiliates sold turkey in interstate
`
`commerce, directly or through its wholly owned or controlled affiliates, to purchasers in the
`
`United States.
`
`43.
`
`Defendants Cargill, Inc. and Cargill Meat Solutions are collectively referred to as
`
`“Cargill.”
`
`44.
`
`Cooper Farms, Inc. is a privately held Ohio corporation engaged in the production
`
`of meat and food products, and the marketing of these products. During the Class Period, Cooper
`
`Farms and/or its predecessors, wholly owned or controlled subsidiaries, or affiliates sold turkey
`
`
`
`15
`
`

`

`Case: 1:20-cv-02295 Document #: 1 Filed: 04/13/20 Page 19 of 85 PageID #:19
`
`in interstate commerce, directly or through its wholly owned or controlled affiliates, to
`
`purchasers in the United States.
`
`45.
`
`Farbest Foods, Inc. is a privately held Indiana corporation engaged in the
`
`production of meat and food products, and the marketing of these products. During the Class
`
`Period, Farbest and/or its predecessors, wholly owned or controlled subsidiaries, or affiliates sold
`
`turkey in interstate commerce, directly or through its wholly owned or controlled affiliates, to
`
`purchasers in the United States.
`
`46.
`
`Foster Farms LLC is a privately held California corporation headquartered in
`
`Modesto, California. During the Class Period, Foster Farms LLC and/or its predecessors, wholly
`
`owned or controlled subsidiaries, or affiliates sold turkey in interstate commerce, directly or
`
`through its wholly owned or controlled affiliates, to purchasers in the United States.
`
`47.
`
`Foster Poultry Farms is a privately held California corporation headquartered in
`
`Livingston, California. Foster Poultry Farms is a related entity of Foster Farms LLC. During the
`
`Class Period, Foster Poultry Farms and/or its predecessors, wholly owned or controlled
`
`subsidiaries, or affiliates was engaged in the p

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