Cal-Maine Foods

On May 1, 2012, Cal-Maine announced a joint venture between the cooperative Eggland's Best and Land O'Lakes. Cal-Maine was the largest franchisee of Eggland's Best and one of the company's 13 shareholders. As of 2011, 16 percent of Cal-Maine egg sales were Eggland's Best.In 2018, an investigation at Lake Wales Farm by the animal rights group Animal Recovery Mission indicated that chickens suffer inhumane living conditions and abuse by employees. After further investigation by the Polk County sheriff's department and the United States Department of Agriculture it was found that the farm had followed American Veterinary Medical Association protocols for euthanizing poultry. No confirmation of abuse was found. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Cal-Maine increased egg prices 300% triggering at least one lawsuit that alleges the price for a dozen eggs increased from $1 to $3.44 despite no interruption to its supply chain. Early in the morning of December 17, 2020, a fire destroyed two barns at Cal-Maine's Dade City, Florida facilities. The fire killed over 240,000 chickens, including 120,000 pullets; the financial loss was estimated to be over $1 million.