US probe pecks holes in Big Chicken’s alleged price-fixing racket
Chicago/Washington — Towards the end of every year, chicken producers compete for massive contracts with grocery stores and fast-food chains across the US. At least, that’s how it’s supposed to work.
A string of text messages and e-mails disclosed in a federal indictment on Wednesday suggest otherwise. In one 2014 exchange, Jayson Penn, the now-chief CEO of chicken giant Pilgrim’s Pride, asked an unnamed colleague about negotiations with a restaurant franchise. He noted that a competitor “did cave” to offering a lower rate to lock in a previous contract. The manager responded to say, “They are listening to my direction.”..
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