Antitrust case filed against potato groups

Associated Wholesale Grocers (AWG) has filed a lawsuit alleging antitrust action among members of United Potato Growers of America (UPGA) and United Potato Growers of Idaho (UPGI).

On April 17, AWG filed the suit in the U.S. District Court in Kansas City. In the complaint AWG alleges that the defendants, UPGA and UPGI, conspired to use pre-harvest and post-harvest methods to control and reduce the supply of potatoes in order to raise and stabilize the prices at which potatoes were sold in the United States.”

Jerry Wright, UPGA president and CEO, released this email statement, “United Potato Growers’ goal has been to help growers provide quality potatoes at reasonable prices to American consumers. We have always acted openly and within the bounds of the law. We are confident in our legal position and look forward to a favorable outcome in court.”

AWG’s corporate headquarters are in Kansas City, Kan. AWG, founded in 1924, provides over 2,000 grocery stores and retail outlets with fresh produce, specialty foods, fresh meat, an assortment of groceries and general merchandise items.

Watch Spudman.com for future developments on this story.

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