DOJ Expands Beef Price Probe to Walmart, Amazon, Costco and Other Major Retailers

The U.S. Department of Justice has broadened its antitrust probe into high beef prices by seeking six years of records on retail sales, wholesale costs, profit margins and pricing strategies from eight major grocery chains.

The letters go to Walmart, Amazon, Costco, Kroger, Publix, Albertsons, Aldi and Ahold Delhaize USA, says the U.S. Department of Justice.

Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward Jr. sent the letters in mid-July. He called beef prices a critical concern to Americans and a priority for the department.

The letters state.

“We will be seeking data and information that we anticipate to be in your company’s records relating to your company’s retail sales and prices, wholesale purchases and prices, costs and margins for beef products, pricing and purchasing strategy, your company’s analyses of market trends in the wholesale or retail price of beef, and information about factors influencing beef prices.”

The expanded inquiry follows a May investigation of meatpackers after President Trump accused the industry of collusion and price manipulation.

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