Department of Justice Expands Beef Price Probe to Kroger, Walmart, Costco, and Five More Retailers

The Department of Justice is widening its investigation into soaring beef prices to include eight of the country’s largest grocery chains: Costco, Kroger, Publix, Walmart, Albertsons, Aldi, Amazon, and Ahold Delhaize USA.The DOJ’s Antitrust Division announced on Tuesday it had expanded its ongoing probe into beef affordability to the retail level. Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward Jr. sent letters to the eight companies concerning “the recent increases in the retail price for beef,” according to the department.“Beef prices are a critical concern to Americans and a priority for this Justice Department,” the Department of Justice wrote on X.The move marks a significant escalation. In May, the department launched an antitrust investigation into the “Big Four” meatpackers — JBS, Cargill, Tyson Foods, and National Beef — which the Department of Justice said control more than 85 percent of the American beef processing market. Tuesday’s announcement extends that scrutiny to the shelves where consumers ultimately pay.The cost of beef has risen roughly 10 percent over the past year. According to the latest inflation report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, beef and veal prices climbed 9.4 percent in the 12 months ending in July — well above the 3.4 percent overall inflation rate. Ground beef rose 9 percent, uncooked beef steaks 9.6 percent, and uncooked beef roasts 13.5 percent.The picture is even starker over a longer window. Labor Department data show the price of ground beef has jumped about 24 percent to $6.89 per pound since President Trump returned to office in January 2025.Analysts say prices have soared to record highs after years of drought, high input costs, herd liquidation, and screwworm outbreaks. With the nation’s cattle herd at a 75-year low and rebuilding expected to take years, analysts see little near-term relief.“The cattle shortage will likely keep beef prices elevated well into 2027,” Sylvain Charlebois, a professor of food distribution and policy at Dalhousie University in Canada, told Newsweek in mid-August.The DOJ has not detailed exactly why it is investigating the retailers beyond stating that the probe concerns “beef affordability.” When the department confirmed its meatpacking inquiry in May, then-acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said officials had reviewed millions of documents and interviewed industry participants, including ranchers and processors. Mr. Trump last year accused the major meatpackers of “Illicit Collusion, Price Fixing, and Price Manipulation.”The investigation coincides with other administration efforts to bring down prices. A plan that took effect Tuesday allows 300,000 metric tons of beef from eligible countries to enter the United States tariff-free over a 90-day period. Mr. Trump has said the imported lean beef trimmings will be sold “at 25 percent below current market prices” and that the move will “substantially” lower costs.The plan has angered ranchers and lawmakers in farming states. Congresswoman Julie Fedorchak, a Republican from North Dakota said on her official Facebook page that the policy “undercuts producers” and sends “the wrong signal” to ranchers rebuilding herds.The Department of Agriculture defended the approach. “This action, during a time of record high demand for beef, will help address the affordability of beef, after our nation’s cattle supply fell to its lowest level in 75 years under the Biden administration,” a spokesman told Newsweek last week.Others were skeptical it would work. Founder of American meat distribution firm Good Ranchers, Ben Spell, told Newsweek the proposal was a “shot in the arm” and a “short-term Band-Aid” for consumers but predicted it would ultimately fail to address the underlying causes of record-high beef prices.

Department of Justice Expands Beef Price Probe to Kroger, Walmart, Costco, and Five More Retailers

Department of Justice Expands Beef Price Probe to Kroger, Walmart, Costco, and Five More Retailers

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