Processors of frozen potato products fixed prices during the recent period of high inflation and kept them too high for too long, according to class-action lawsuits that allege antitrust violations.

Lamb Weston Inc., McCain Foods, J.R. Simplot Co. and Cavendish Farms raised prices to keep up with spiking costs but did not decrease prices accordingly after costs stabilized, according to plaintiffs.

Potato processors typically contract annually with growers, who negotiate based in part on their own costs. Many of the potatoes harvested in the fall are stored well into the following growing season.

By at least the start of 2021, the defendants “conspired to fix prices of their frozen potato products above competitive levels” and “affected this price-fixing conspiracy by implementation of lockstep price increases that allowed them to realize unprecedented margins,” according to a complaint that Redner’s Markets Inc. filed in the U.S. District Court Northern District of Illinois Nov. 15. “This conspiracy has continued, unabated, to the present.”

The processors, who control some 97% of the market, “have been able to increase the price of their frozen potato products even after their input costs significantly declined,” according to the complaint.

In a separate class-action complaint filed in the same district Nov. 17, Alexander Govea sued the processors as well as marketing group National Potato Promotion Board dba Potatoes USA and analytics firm Circana LLC.

Due to the defendants’ conduct, consumers have paid “supracompetitive” retail prices for frozen potato products, Govea’s complaint alleges. Defendants have been able to artificially raise prices in the relevant market by using “conduits to price fixing, such as potato price data aggregation services and collective action through trade associations.”

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

Simplot spokesman Josh Jordan told Capital Press that he cannot provide specific details about pending legal activities. “However, I will say that we compete fairly and with integrity in all markets where we operate. Our focus remains on delivering high-quality and dependable products and services to our valued customers.”

“We believe the claims are without merit and intend to vigorously defend our position,” a Lamb Weston spokesperson said in an email.

Cavendish Farms is “proud of our record serving our valued customers in North America,” said Marc Doucette, vice president of communications. “The allegations in the recent lawsuits are baseless, and we intend to vigorously defend ourselves against them.”

Representatives of other organizations named as defendants could not be reached immediately.

Defendants increased prices “at nearly identical times, leveraging a temporary spike in input costs to justify permanent industry-wide price increases and utilizing other available means to exploit their collective market power and artificially increase prices,” Karen Pollack alleged in a complaint against the processors filed in the northern Illinois U.S. district court Nov. 18. The “anticompetitive conspiracy” led to record profits and revenues, and U.S. prices that have been “artificially inflated,” which caused consumers to “pay more for frozen potatoes than they would have but for the defendants’ agreement.”

Plaintiffs seek class-action status, damages and costs.