• The Wall Street Journal reports this morning that fast feeder Chick-fil-A has sued a number of poultry producers - including Tyson, Pilgrim's Pride, Sanderson Farms and Perdue - accusing them of price fixing. According to the story Chick-fil-A says the companies "coordinated pricing for meat supplies and collectively reduced production to push up prices."
Chick-fil-A is said to be seeking unspecified damages and legal fees.
The Journal notes that "the lawsuit adds one of the U.S. poultry industry’s biggest customers to a four-year legal battle over alleged collusion among companies that produce the bulk of the roughly 37 billion pounds of chicken consumed annually in the U.S.
"Major supermarket operators and food-service distributors have filed civil suits alleging anticompetitive behavior, and this year the U.S. Justice Department indicted senior chicken-industry executives and sales officials on criminal charges of bid-rigging and price-fixing. The defendants have pleaded not guilty to the criminal charges, and major chicken companies are contesting the civil-court claims."
• From AdWeek:
"Walgreens Advertising Group is the latest retail media creation to enter the fray at the tail-end of a year that has seen both major store brands and ad service providers undergo substantial disruption.
"In launching WAG, the retailer hopes to tap into lasting behavioral changes driven by both consumers and advertisers.
"WAG offers media buyers ad placements across the retailer’s owned and operated properties, including a vetted network of third-party websites. Its analytics capabilities are based on using first-party data gauged from its MyWalgreens loyalty program."
