EX-99.1 5 exhibit991.htm EX-99.1 exhibit991
exhibit991p1i0
Exhibit 99.1
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Contacts:
Sherman Miller, President and CEO
Max P. Bowman, Vice President and CFO
(601) 948-6813
CAL-MAINE FOODS, INC. ISSUES STATEMENT ON JURY DECISION
RIDGELAND,
 
Miss.
 
(December
 
1,
 
2023)
 
―
 
Cal-Maine
 
Foods,
 
Inc.
 
(NASDAQ:
 
CALM)
 
(“Cal-Maine
Foods” or
 
the
 
“Company”), the
 
largest
 
producer
 
and
 
distributor
 
of
 
fresh
 
shell
 
eggs
 
in
 
the
 
United
 
States,
today issued the following statement:
 
Approximately 20
 
years ago, United
 
Egg Producers (UEP)
 
responded to growing
 
public demand to
 
improve
the overall treatment of egg
 
laying hens by adopting the
 
UEP animal-welfare certified program.
 
The UEP
certified
 
program
 
was
 
based
 
on
 
the
 
recommendations
 
of
 
an
 
independent
 
scientific
 
advisory
 
committee,
developed as a scientifically sound, voluntary
 
program, supported by consumers, customers and
 
numerous
trade groups. This program
 
was not designed to restrict
 
supply and affect prices.
 
In fact, despite the filing
of this case
 
almost 13 years
 
ago (Kraft Foods
 
Global, Inc. et
 
al. v.
 
United Egg Producers,
 
Inc. et al.,
 
Case
No. 1:11-cv-8808 in the U.S.
 
District Court for the Northern District of Illinois), this
 
program continues to
serve as the
 
foundation of numerous
 
state laws, remains the
 
predominant animal welfare standard
 
for laying
hens, and is still required by substantially all customers, to this day.
 
The plaintiffs alleged that
 
the prices they paid
 
for processed egg products
 
were increased by the
 
defendants’
conduct. The plaintiffs, however, continue to demand egg products created from
 
UEP Certified eggs and/or
eggs
 
from
 
hens
 
that
 
otherwise
 
are
 
humanely
 
raised. On
 
December
 
1,
 
2023,
 
the
 
jury
 
returned
 
a
 
verdict
awarding the plaintiffs
 
$17,777,579 in damages.
 
This decision is not
 
final and remains
 
subject to the motion
for
 
a
 
directed
 
verdict
 
noted
 
below.
 
Cal-Maine
 
Foods
 
would
 
share
 
responsibility
 
with
 
the
 
other
 
three
defendants for the payment
 
of this amount, trebled, plus
 
reasonable attorneys’ fees and subject to previous
settlement credits. Cal-Maine Foods respects the jury’s
 
decision and appreciates that the damages awarded
by the jury are
 
relatively modest compared
 
to the damages sought
 
but remains disappointed
 
with the verdict
as Cal-Maine Foods continues to believe that the Company did nothing wrong. The two earlier trials based
on substantially the same facts and legal arguments resulted in findings of no conspiracy and/or damages.
 
Because Cal-Maine Foods believes
 
that the plaintiffs’
 
claims fail as
 
a matter of law,
 
Cal-Maine Foods has
petitioned the Court to enter
 
a judgment in its favor, known as
 
a directed verdict, notwithstanding the
 
jury’s
decision. Significantly, the jury found that the UEP certified
 
program itself does not constitute
 
a restraint of
trade. Also,
 
because the
 
egg producers
 
in this
 
case only
 
represent 15.5
 
percent of
 
the market,
 
Cal-Maine
Foods believes the law is clear that the defendants in
 
issue did not have sufficient market power to restrain
trade. Cal-Maine Foods looks forward to the Court’s consideration of these arguments
 
and will continue to
evaluate its options, including, if necessary, an appeal.
About Cal-Maine Foods
Cal-Maine
 
Foods,
 
Inc.
 
is
 
primarily
 
engaged
 
in
 
the
 
production,
 
grading,
 
packaging,
 
marketing
 
and
distribution of
 
fresh shell
 
eggs, including
 
conventional, cage-free,
 
organic, brown,
 
free-range, pasture-raised
and nutritionally
 
enhanced eggs.
 
The Company,
 
which is
 
headquartered in
 
Ridgeland, Mississippi,
 
is the
largest producer
 
and distributor
 
of fresh
 
shell eggs
 
in the
 
United States
 
and sells
 
the majority
 
of its
 
shell
eggs in
 
states across
 
the southwestern,
 
southeastern, mid-western
 
and mid-Atlantic
 
regions of
 
the United
States.
Cal-Maine Foods, Inc.
 
Issues Statement on Jury Decision
 
Page 2
December 1, 2023
Forward Looking Statements
Statements contained in this
 
press release that are
 
not historical facts are
 
forward-looking statements
 
as that
term is
 
defined in
 
the Private
 
Securities Litigation Reform
 
Act of
 
1995. The
 
forward-looking statements are
based on management’s
 
current intent,
 
belief, expectations,
 
estimates and
 
projections regarding
 
our company
and our industry.
 
These statements
 
are not guarantees
 
of future performance
 
and involve risks,
 
uncertainties,
assumptions and
 
other factors
 
that are
 
difficult to
 
predict and
 
may be
 
beyond our
 
control. The
 
factors that
could cause actual
 
results to differ materially
 
from those projected
 
in the forward-looking
 
statements include,
among others, (i)
 
the risk factors
 
set forth in
 
the Company’s SEC
 
filings (including
 
its Annual Reports
 
on Form
10-K, Quarterly Reports on
 
Form 10-Q and Current Reports
 
on Form 8-K), (ii) the risks
 
and hazards inherent
in the shell egg
 
business (including disease, pests, weather conditions and
 
potential for recall), including but
not
 
limited to
 
the
 
most
 
recent
 
outbreak
 
of
 
highly
 
pathogenic
 
avian
 
influenza affecting
 
poultry
 
in
 
the
 
U.S.,
Canada and
 
other countries
 
that was
 
first detected
 
in commercial
 
flocks in
 
the U.S.
 
in February
 
2022, (iii)
changes in the demand for and market prices of shell eggs and feed costs, (iv)
 
our ability to predict and meet
demand for
 
cage-free and
 
other specialty
 
eggs, (v)
 
risks, changes
 
or obligations
 
that could
 
result from
 
our
future acquisition of new flocks or businesses and risks
 
or changes that may cause conditions to completing
 
a
pending
 
acquisition not
 
to
 
be
 
met, (vi)
 
risks
 
relating to
 
increased costs
 
and higher
 
and
 
potentially further
increases in inflation and interest
 
rates, which began in response to
 
market conditions caused in part by
 
the
COVID-19 pandemic
 
and which
 
generally have
 
been exacerbated
 
by the
 
Russia-Ukraine war
 
that began
 
in
February 2022,
 
(vii) our
 
ability to
 
retain existing customers,
 
acquire new customers
 
and grow
 
our product
mix, and (viii) adverse results in pending litigation matters. SEC filings may be obtained from the SEC or the
Company’s website
,
 
www.calmainefoods.com.
 
Readers are cautioned
 
not to place
 
undue reliance
 
on forward-
looking statements because,
 
while we believe
 
the assumptions on
 
which the forward-looking statements
 
are
based
 
are
 
reasonable,
 
there
 
can
 
be
 
no
 
assurance
 
that
 
these
 
forward-looking
 
statements
 
will
 
prove
 
to
 
be
accurate. Further, the
 
forward-looking statements included
 
herein are
 
only made
 
as of
 
the respective
 
dates
thereof, or
 
if no
 
date is
 
stated, as
 
of the
 
date hereof.
 
Except as
 
otherwise required
 
by law,
 
we disclaim
 
any
intent
 
or
 
obligation
 
to
 
publicly
 
update
 
these
 
forward-looking
 
statements,
 
whether
 
as
 
a
 
result
 
of
 
new
information, future events or otherwise.
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