Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, ANTITRUST—D. Minn.: Triumph to pay $700,000, Agri Stats to cease publishing pork processing reports in latest Pork Antitrust MDL settlement, (Jul 8, 2026)

By Wendy Biddle, J.D.

The court certifies amended indirect-purchaser classes, adding Illinois as a repealer jurisdiction, and clears the way for notice purchasers as the latest round of CIIPP settlements moves toward a fairness hearing.

The federal district court in Minneapolis, Minnesota has preliminarily approved two class action settlements in the long-running In re Pork Antitrust Litigation, resolving the claims of Commercial and Institutional Indirect Purchaser Plaintiffs (CIIPPs) against Triumph Foods, LLC and Agri Stats, Inc. The settlement terms were set out in detail in the memorandum in support of the motion for preliminary approval. Assuming they receive final approval, would see Triumph pay $700,000 and Agri Stats cease publishing pork processing reports, and if it resumes, provides for various guardrails. The order certifies amended settlement classes, approves the form and manner of class notice, and authorizes dissemination to potential class members, setting the stage for a final fairness hearing (In Re Pork Antitrust Litigation, No. 0:18-cv-01776-JRT-JFD (D. Minn. Jul. 6, 2026)).

Background. The MDL consolidates putative class actions alleging that pork producers conspired to constrict supply and fix prices from at least 2009 onward, in part through Agri Stats, a data firm that allegedly distributed detailed, non-public "benchmarking" reports on price, capacity, sales volume, and demand to most pork integrators. According to the CIIPPs, this exchange of competitively sensitive information allowed integrators to coordinate supply and pricing decisions, resulting in artificially inflated prices paid by commercial and institutional purchasers. The case proceeded without a prior government investigation or a cooperating leniency applicant, requiring the CIIPPs to independently develop the factual record through extensive discovery.

Settlement terms. The Triumph settlement provides for a $700,000 payment into an escrow account structured as a qualified settlement fund, along with Triumph's agreement to assist in authenticating documents for potential use at trial. The Agri Stats settlement, by contrast, contains no direct monetary component but includes extensive conduct relief: Agri Stats has ceased publishing pork processing reports and agreed that, should it resume, it will implement a series of restrictions, including antitrust compliance training, data anonymization thresholds requiring at least three contributing entities per data field, removal of plant-level production data, elimination of sales reports, and a five-year compliance period tied to any resumption of reporting.

Class certification. The Court's analysis of the agreement turned largely on the procedural posture: the classes at issue had already been certified in a 2023 litigation-stage order, later amended in 2024. Citing the Advisory Committee Note to the 2018 amendment of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(e)(1), the court explained that where a class has been certified before settlement, the only certification issue requiring fresh analysis is "whether the proposed settlement calls for any change in the class certified, or of the claims, defenses, or issues regarding which certification was granted." Because the settlement class definitions were materially identical to those previously certified, except for the addition of Illinois as a "Repealer Jurisdiction" under the damages classes, the court incorporated its prior certification findings wholesale and confined its independent analysis to that single change.

Illinois as repealer jurisdiction. On the Illinois question, the court found a valid basis for the addition, noting that Illinois has statutorily "repealed" the indirect-purchaser standing bar established in Illinois Brick Co. v. Illinois, and that the court had previously approved a consumer indirect-purchaser class in this same MDL that included Illinois as a repealer jurisdiction.

Fairness. Turning to the fairness of the settlements themselves, the court applied the preliminary-approval standard, under which the fair, reasonable, and adequate inquiry is relaxed, focusing on whether the settlement falls within the range of possible approval absent glaring substantive or procedural deficiencies. The court found that the agreements were negotiated at arm's length by experienced counsel following years of adversarial litigation, raised no obvious fairness concerns, and fell within the range of possible approval.

Notice. The Court found that the proposed plan satisfied Rule 23 and due process requirements, approving the long and short-form notices and digital media components substantially as presented.

The Triumph and Agri Stats settlements are the seventh and eighth secured by the CIIPPs in the litigation, following earlier settlements with JBS, Smithfield, Seaboard, Hormel, Clemens, and Tyson that brought cumulative CIIPP monetary relief to more than $118 million. Because Triumph and Agri Stats are the final remaining defendants in the CIIPPs' track of the MDL, final approval of these settlements would conclude the CIIPPs' involvement in the case.

The Case is No. 0:18-cv-01776-JRT-JFD.

Judge: Tunheim, J.

Attorneys: Bobby Pouya (Pearson Warshaw, LLP) for Plaintiffs. Craig S. Coleman (Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP) for Agri Stats, Inc.

Companies: Agri Stats, Inc.

Cases: Antitrust MinnesotaNews