Price-gouging eggs during COVID pandemic lands grocery chain hefty fine, officials say

A grocery chain with 254 stores in California, Washington, Idaho and several other western states faces a $175,000 fine for price-gouging consumers for eggs during the COVID-19 pandemic, officials reported.

Smart & Final, which also has stores in Oregon, Arizona, Nevada and Northern Mexico, settled the price-gouging case with the California Department of Justice, Attorney General Rob Bonta announced in a news release.

“It is unacceptable to take advantage of hardworking California families during times of crisis,” Bonta said, calling the fine a warning to other businesses against price-gouging.

In a statement, Smart & Final said price hikes by suppliers sparked the increases, the Los Angeles Times reported.

“In response to the rapid pace of these price increases, we briefly and unintentionally raised the price of premium eggs to align with supplier price increases on standard eggs,” the company said. “We want our valued customers to know that price gouging has no place in our stores.”

The company raised prices on some premium eggs by more than the 10% permitted under an emergency edict against price-gouging enacted by Gov. Gavin Newsom early in the pandemic, the news release said.

Following the edict, state officials “received a large number of price-gouging complaints reporting dramatic increases in the retail price of eggs,” officials said.

Many cited Smart & Final stores, the release said. An investigation found the stores sold 100,000 cartons of eggs at unlawful prices.

Smart & Final began under another name in 1871 in Los Angeles, according to a history on its website. It was purchased by Bodega Latina Corp. in 2021.

This story was originally published April 6, 2022 at 12:25 PM with the headline "Price-gouging eggs during COVID pandemic lands grocery chain hefty fine, officials say."