AUSTIN — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Tuesday that three of the nation’s largest egg producers have agreed to donate more than 7 million eggs to food banks across Texas as part of a multistate antitrust settlement.

The agreement includes Cal-Maine Foods, Centrum/Versova, and Hickman’s Egg Ranch. Nationwide, the companies will donate more than 53 million eggs to food banks and community organizations and pay $3.3 million to participating states.

According to the Attorney General’s Office, investigators found the companies coordinated bidding activity to influence industry egg price benchmarks, artificially increasing the prices consumers paid for eggs between 2022 and 2025. The settlement also requires the companies to implement compliance measures and appoint compliance officers to help prevent similar conduct in the future.

The announcement has local significance because Cal-Maine Foods operates the Wharton County Foods Complex in Boling, a major egg production, processing, and feed milling facility. Cal-Maine acquired the former Maxim Production Co. operation in Boling in 2012, making it an important part of the company’s Southwest operations.

The latest settlement follows an earlier agreement with Cal-Maine that resulted in egg donations to Texas food banks. In February, the Food Bank of the Golden Crescent received approximately 2,700 dozen eggs, which were distributed through more than 100 partner agencies serving Calhoun, Colorado, DeWitt, Goliad, Gonzales, Jackson, Lavaca, Matagorda, Refugio, Wharton, and Victoria counties.

Attorney General Paxton said the settlements are intended to hold companies accountable for anticompetitive conduct while providing millions of eggs to Texans through food banks across the state.