In October of 2024, McDonald’s sued four of the world’s largest meat producers – Tyson, JBS, Cargill, and National Beef Packing – for allegedly conspiring to inflate the price of beef by creating artificial scarcity in the market.

This is not the first time McDonald’s has sued these meat producers, and it is not the first time these meat producers have been sued. Over 200 cases have been brought by restaurants, retailers, wholesalers, and ranchers. Some are still pending and others have been settled - with high payouts but no admission of wrongdoing.

In this week’s episode of Art of Supply, Kelly Barner reviews the case McDonald’s is making against the Big 4:

• The price setting power associated with controlling 80 percent of the U.S. beef market
• The complexity associated with trying to track cost and price data in a highly concentrated market
• Why being the largest beef buyer in the world isn’t enough to tip the scales in McDonald’s favor

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