General Mills, Mars sue sugar producers in price-fixing lawsuit
GIS•Defendants and responses
- ASR Group and United Sugar are also defendants in a related class action in federal court in Minnesota. They have denied the claims in that litigation.
- ASR in a statement on Tuesday said the claims in the new lawsuit were repackaged by “additional plaintiffs’ lawyers peeling away parties who were already represented in the pending litigation." ASR said "as with the earlier case, the facts don’t support their allegations, and we will demonstrate that as we defend this case.”
- United Sugar did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Claims in the federal complaint
- The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Chicago on Friday, claims the sugar producers illegally coordinated prices by sharing confidential competitive information through an intermediary.
- “The antitrust laws do not allow competitors to exchange competitively sensitive information directly in an effort to stabilize or control industry pricing,” the lawsuit said.
- General Mills, Mars and two other plaintiffs, including Little Debbie snack maker McKee Foods, said they purchased billions of dollars of granulated sugar during the alleged price-fixing conspiracy between 2017 and 2024.
- General Mills brands include Pillsbury, Betty Crocker and cereals such as Cheerios, Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Cocoa Puffs. Mars candy products include Snickers, M&Ms and Twix. General Mills and McKee declined to comment. Mars did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The plaintiffs are represented by law firm Jenner & Block.
- The lawsuit said that the sugar industry “has been marked by repeated violations of the antitrust laws for more than 80 years.” Granulated sugar prices reached record levels during the alleged conspiracy period, according to the lawsuit.
