259K Eggs Head To Long Island Families After Price-Fixing Settlement

HAUPPAUGE, NY — More than a quarter-million eggs arrived at Long Island Cares' Hauppauge warehouse Thursday, part of a multistate settlement with three major egg producers over an illegal price-coordination scheme, according to the New York Attorney General's Office.

Long Island Cares received 21,600 cartons containing a dozen eggs each, or 259,200 individual eggs, Robert LaBarbara, the food bank's vice president for procurement and operations, told Patch.

The shipment will be made available through Long Island Cares' own food pantries and its network of food-assistance agencies across Nassau and Suffolk counties.

"This egg shipment is an opportunity for Long Island Cares to assist many of our neighbors who are in need of food assistance," LaBarbara said.

Long Island Cares said demand for food assistance has been trending upward amid Long Island's high cost of living.

LaBarbara said the costs of groceries, fuel and housing, along with reductions to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, have contributed to the need.

The eggs stem from a settlement involving Cal-Maine Foods, Versova/Centrum and Hickman's Egg Ranch.

A multistate investigation led by the New York Attorney General's Office alongside the U.S. Department of Justice found that the companies coordinated from approximately June 2022 through March 2025 to influence daily egg-price quotes published by Urner Barry, a benchmark pricing service widely used in egg supply contracts, according to the Attorney General's Office.

The Attorney General's Office said the companies submitted dozens of bids at higher prices, which led Urner Barry to increase its price quotes and artificially inflated prices paid by retailers and consumers. Under the settlement, the companies agreed to provide 53 million eggs to food banks and nonprofit organizations across participating states and pay a combined $3.3 million.

New York is set to receive 4,968,000 eggs, all of which will be distributed through Feeding New York, the statewide network overseeing New York's food banks.

Long Island has already received another shipment under the settlement. In August, Island Harvest received 11,700 dozen-count cartons — more than 140,000 eggs — for distribution to Long Island families.

Thursday's delivery represents another sizable source of protein at a time when the organization says more residents are seeking help putting food on the table.

"It's a healthy, high source of protein going directly to the community through our agency partners," LaBarbara said.