Lawsuit Claims National Potato Promotion Board, Major Potato Processors Illegally Conspired to Fix Frozen Potato Product Prices

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A proposed class action lawsuit accuses the National Potato Promotion Board (NPPB) and four of the country’s largest potato processors of unlawfully conspiring to artificially inflate prices for frozen French fries, hash browns, tater tots and other potato products to supracompetitive levels.

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The 38-page antitrust lawsuit alleges the trade association and four members—defendants Lamb Weston, McCain Foods, the J.R. Simplot Company and Cavendish Farms—have engaged in a price-manipulation scheme to the detriment of consumers. To carry out this scheme, the defendants have agreed to regularly exchange non-public and “competitively sensitive” data about the supply, production and pricing of their frozen potato products, the suit claims.

According to the class action suit, the detailed information is shared through PotatoTrac, a data analytics service provided by co-defendant Circana, LLC. Per the case, PotatoTrac’s statistical reports, which aggregate pricing data on potato products market-wide, enable the defendants to directly exchange information, coordinate and control prices, and ensure that “no price competition takes place.”

“Armed with the same access to each other’s data on pricing and other sensitive information, as well as with a direct line of communication to each other, the potato cartel moves prices skyward in lockstep—harming all purchasers of potatoes in the process,” the complaint claims.

As a result of the defendants’ “anticompetitive and predatory” conduct, prices for frozen potato products have skyrocketed, the filing alleges.

Consumers have been left to foot the bill, as the price of potatoes has increased by as much as 43 percent at retail since January 2021, the potato price-fixing lawsuit asserts.

The suit contends that the NPPB and potato processors have also harmed market-wide competition. As the case tells it, the alleged scheme has “throttled any incentive” for producers in the potato market to compete on price, quality, service or other forms of innovation.

The lawsuit looks to represent any individuals, businesses, entities and corporations in the United States who indirectly purchased the defendants’ frozen potato products at any time since January 1, 2021.

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