Alleged 'potato cartel' lawsuit in U.S. names Canada's McCain Foods and Cavendish Farms

The companies and two others are accused of having 'direct line of communication to each other' and increasing frozen products prices in 'lockstep'

Two Canadian companies have been named in separate frozen-potato price-fixing lawsuits south of the border.

McCain Foods Ltd. and Cavendish Farms are among those accused of being part of a “potato cartel,” conspiring with other large processors by sharing pricing data in an effort to raise the price of frozen potatoes in the U.S.

The other companies named in the class-action lawsuits are U.S. companies Lamb Weston Inc. and J.R. Simplot Co., as well as an industry association called the National Potato Promotion Board.