The Justice Department wants six years of beef pricing records from eight of the biggest grocery sellers in the country. Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward Jr. sent letters to Kroger, Walmart, Publix, Albertsons, Aldi, Ahold Delhaize, Costco and Amazon, the department’s Antitrust Division said in a post on X.
“Beef prices are a critical concern to Americans, and a priority for this Justice Department,” the post said.
Fox Business, which obtained the letters, reported that they were identical and dated July 14. They ask each company for records on retail beef sales and prices, wholesale purchases, costs and margins, and its pricing and purchasing strategies. Investigators also want to hear from company staff on how beef pricing and margins changed between 2020 and 2026, how costs moved over the same period, and how the retailers buy beef wholesale from meatpackers. The reporting does not include any response from the eight companies.
Meatpackers first
The retail inquiry builds on a probe the department opened in May into the four largest beef processors: Tyson Foods, Cargill, JBS USA and National Beef Packing. Officials say the four control about 85% of the US fed cattle market. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said at the time that prosecutors had reviewed more than 3 million documents and run interviews, and he invited whistleblowers across the supply chain to come forward. The processors have faced private lawsuits alleging price-fixing through supply restrictions. They have denied the claims, though some have settled without admitting liability.
The Trump administration first said last year that producers “have to get their prices down,” Meatingplace reported, and later blamed the Big Four.
What prices have done
Government figures cited by Newsweek show beef and veal prices up 9.4 percent in the 12 months to July. Ground beef rose 9 percent, steaks 9.6 percent and roasts 13.5 percent, against overall inflation of 3.4 percent. Labor Department data put ground beef at $6.89 a pound, roughly 24 percent more than when Trump returned to office.
Economists point to a different cause. Meatingplace noted that they blame a record-low cattle inventory, driven mainly by drought and kept tight by steady demand. The US herd is at a 75-year low, and screwworm outbreaks are squeezing foreign supply. Sylvain Charlebois, a professor of food distribution and policy at Dalhousie University, told Newsweek in mid-August that “the cattle shortage will likely keep beef prices elevated well into 2027.”
Sources
- US expands beef price probe to major grocery chains | LinkedIn
- DOJ Expands Beef Price Investigation to Major Retailers
