“Potato cartel”: two Canadian agri-food companies prosecuted in the United States

Two Canadian food companies are being sued in the United States over allegations of price-fixing of frozen products.

Canadian Companies McCain Foods Ltd. and Cavendish Farms, a subsidiary of JD Irving Ltd., have been named as suspected members of a “potato cartel,” according to reports Global NewsWednesday.

The lawsuits were filed last week in a U.S. District Court in Illinois.

The American companies Lamb Weston Holdings and JR Simplot Co. are also targeted by these lawsuits.

These four companies, which represent up to 98% of the market for frozen potato products, are said to have “fixed” the price of their products “above competitive levels”.

They are being referred to as alleged members of the “potato cartel” because they would “surge prices skyrocketing at the same rate, harming all potato buyers in the process,” said a demands.

This alleged fraud involves frozen fries, hash browns and frozen potato bites (tater tots).

McCain Foods defended itself in a statement sent to Global Newsstating that it “strongly disputes any allegations that the company violated any laws with respect to the sale of frozen potato products.”