A "potato cartel" made of four of the largest potato product companies in the U.S. has allegedly conspired to raise prices on a variety of items like tater tots and fries.
The companies dominate the frozen potato products market in the U.S., controlling 97 per cent of the industry."Armed with the same access to each other's data on pricing and other sensitive information, as well as with a direct line of communication to each other, the potato cartel moves prices skyward in lockstep — harming all purchasers of potatoes in the process," reads one of the lawsuits, filed on Sunday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.