Egg ‘cartel’ of a dozen suppliers manipulated Australian market for years, regulator alleges

Sunny Queen, country’s largest egg supplier, denies ACCC allegations that it coordinated production and distribution with 11 other companies

The competition watchdog is suing Australia’s largest egg supplier, Sunny Queen, and 11 other producers over allegations they engaged in “cartel conduct” for at least six years to manipulate the market.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) on Tuesday filed a civil case in the federal court against Sunny Queen and 11 other egg companies, including Hall, McLean Farms and Kinross.

Since at least October 2020, the ACCC alleges, the businesses breached competition law by coordinating on production volumes, distribution, expansion plans and the culling of birds to manage perceived oversupply.

The alleged coordination was likely to have “substantially reduced competition for many years” and potentially drove up consumer prices, the ACCC said in a statement announcing the legal action.

The allegations relate to the production and supply of free-range, cage and organic eggs.

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It is the first case to involve “concerted practice” allegations since the ACCC introduced a prohibition in 2017.

A concerted practice involves alleged cooperation between businesses that goes beyond them acting independently in response to market conditions.

The ACCC’s chair, Gina Cass-Gottlieb, said Sunny Queen, Hall and McLean Farms allegedly bought a property near Toowoomba to prevent rival egg suppliers from acquiring it, which resulted in “substantially lessening competition”.

The watchdog also alleged that Sunny Queen restricted how many eggs its rival Kinross could sell to customers, and prevented Kinross from selling its eggs to Coles, Woolworths, Aldi, Metcash and Costco.

“We know that Australians individually eat approximately 250 eggs every year,” Cass-Gottlieb said.

“When you have coordination of [what] should be independent business behaviour between major suppliers, then there is a threat to the benefits that competition can bring for such a staple product.”

Cass-Gottlieb said the legal proceedings were a reminder that businesses must make their production, supply and pricing decisions independently.

The ACCC is seeking declarations, penalties, injunctions, costs and other orders.

A spokesperson for Sunny Queen denied the allegations and said the company intended to defend the court proceedings.

“Sunny Queen has cooperated fully with the ACCC throughout the course of its investigation,” they said.

“While this process is underway, it’s business as usual for Sunny Queen and we will continue to supply Australian families with fresh, nutritious eggs.”

A spokesperson for Pace Farm – which acquired Kinross in 2025 – acknowledged the ACCC proceedings.

“We are reviewing the allegations and will respond through the appropriate legal process,” they said.

“As the matter is before the courts, we are unable to comment further at this stage.”

Guardian Australia has also contacted Hall and McLean Farms for comment.