General Mills, Mars sue sugar producers in price-fixing lawsuit
GIS•Sugar industry history and related litigation
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.
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.
Lawsuit accuses sugar producers of price-fixing conspiracy
Food giants General Mills and Mars sued United Sugar, Domino owner ASR Group and other top U.S. sugar producers, alleging they engaged in a years-long conspiracy to fix prices that caused manufacturers to pay inflated prices for a key ingredient in candies, cereal and other products.
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.
ASR and United Sugar did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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. The two companies and McKee did not immediately respond to requests for comment. They are represented by law firm Jenner & Block.
