Smithfield Foods has agreed to pay $83 million to resolve claims that it conspired with competitors to fix pork prices beginning in 2009.
The settlement, in which Smithfield does not admit any wrongdoing, removes the company from litigation brought by foodservice distributor Maplevale Farms and other pork purchasers. It must be approved by Judge John Tunheim of the U.S. district court in Minneapolis.
Keira Lombardo, Smithfield’s general counsel, says the settlement removes a substantial portion of the company’s litigation-related exposure. The other defendants include competitors JBS USA, Tyson Foods and Hormel Foods. Smithfield and those companies are still defendants in a separate price-fixing lawsuit brought by retailers and restaurants.
