Cal-Maine Foods

What Cal-Maine Foods does

Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ: CALM) is the largest producer and distributor of fresh shell eggs in the United States, operating since 1957 and headquartered in Ridgeland, Mississippi. The company runs a fully vertically integrated platform that spans two breeding facilities, two hatcheries, 30 feed mills (1,000 tons of feed per hour), 37 pullet facilities, 49 shell-egg production complexes housing up to 51.8 million layers, 51 processing and packaging facilities (approximately 686,700 dozen shell eggs per hour), three egg-products processing facilities, and six prepared-foods plants across Kentucky, Indiana, Missouri, New York, and Wisconsin. In fiscal 2025 it sold 1.3 billion dozen eggs and reported $4.3 billion in annual net sales, capturing approximately 20% of US domestic shell egg consumption and serving more than 60,000 customer retail locations across the Southwest, Southeast, Midwest, and Mid-Atlantic.

The company's product portfolio covers conventional, cage-free, organic, brown, free-range, pasture-raised, and nutritionally enhanced shell eggs, processed egg products (liquid, frozen, dried, hard-cooked), and prepared foods including ready-to-eat breakfast items and gluten-free frozen waffles. Brands include Eggland's Best, Land O Lakes, 4GRAIN, Farmhouse Eggs, Van's Foods, Echo Lake Foods, and Crepini, distributed under license and direct ownership. Safe Quality Food certification is maintained at 100% of in-scope processing facilities.

The business model is B2B-led: Cal-Maine sells directly to major retail grocery chains, foodservice operators (restaurants, hotels, hospitals, schools), wholesale distributors, and food manufacturers. Pricing is commodity-driven and highly volatile (wholesale egg prices have ranged from above $8/dozen to under $0.60/dozen). Recent strategic moves — Echo Lake Foods, ISE America, Creighton Brothers, and Van's Foods acquisitions plus the Crepini joint venture — signal a deliberate pivot toward higher-margin specialty eggs and prepared foods, though a DOJ antitrust investigation into alleged price coordination among major egg producers represents the most material active risk to the franchise.

Name

Cal-Maine Foods

Legal name

Cal-Maine Foods, Inc.

Website

https://calmainefoods.com

Company type

Public

Founded year

1957

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

Cal-Maine Foods is the largest US shell egg producer, with vertically integrated operations across 20+ states, 48.3 million laying hens, $4.3B in FY2025 revenue, and approximately 20% domestic market share serving retail grocery, foodservice, wholesale, and prepared foods customers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Jackson

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices8 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Shell Egg Sales: Production and sale of conventional, cage-free, organic, brown, free-range, pasture-raised and nutritionally enhanced shell eggs to retail grocery stores, foodservice operators, and wholesale distributors across the United States.
2. Egg Products: Processed egg products including liquid eggs, hard-cooked eggs, and egg-based ingredients for food manufacturing and foodservice customers.
3. Prepared Foods: Ready-to-eat egg products and breakfast foods including Van's gluten-free waffles, Echo Lake Foods scrambled eggs and breakfast items, and Crepini egg wraps through joint venture operations.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Cal-Maine Foods produces, processes, and distributes fresh shell eggs (conventional, cage-free, organic, brown, free-range, pasture-raised, and nutritionally enhanced varieties), processed egg products (liquid, frozen, dried, hard-cooked), and prepared foods (ready-to-eat egg items, frozen breakfast products including gluten-free waffles and egg wraps). The company operates a vertically integrated platform spanning breeding facilities, hatcheries, feed mills, shell egg production farms, processing and packaging plants, and prepared foods facilities across 20+ U.S. states.

Product overview

Cal-Maine Foods operates as a vertically integrated egg and egg-based food platform, offering a comprehensive portfolio of shell eggs (conventional, cage-free, organic, free-range, pasture-raised, and nutritionally enhanced), egg products (liquid, frozen, dried), and prepared foods (ready-to-eat egg products and frozen breakfast items). The company distributes under multiple branded portfolios including Eggland's Best, Land O Lakes, 4GRAIN, and Farmhouse Eggs, while also expanding into prepared foods through acquisitions of Echo Lake Foods and Van's Foods brands. As the largest egg producer in the United States with operations across 16 states, the company processes approximately 686,700 dozen shell eggs per hour through its network of 51 processing and packaging facilities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Conventional Shell Eggs

Quantifiable outcome

• Reached $4.3 billion annual sales and sold 1.3 billion dozen eggs in fiscal 2025
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered major, core and minor.

• Sara Lee Frozen Bakery, LLCmajorOthers · 12 May 2026Cal-Maine Foods acquired certain assets of the Van's Foods business from Sara Lee Frozen Bakery, LLC (a Kohlberg portfolio company). Van's is the leading brand in gluten-free waffles and a category leader in the better-for-you frozen breakfast market. The acquisition is expected to increase Cal-Maine's annual prepared foods sales by approximately 10%.
• Creighton Brothers LLC and Crystal Lake LLCmajorOthers · 3 March 2026Cal-Maine Foods acquired Indiana-based Creighton Brothers LLC and Crystal Lake LLC for approximately $128.5 million. The deal includes shell egg production capacity of approximately 3.2 million laying hens (including 500,000 cage-free), around 865,000 pullets, a feed mill, egg processing facilities, and approximately 1,007 acres of land. The acquisition expands Cal-Maine's geographic reach into Indiana and strengthens internal sourcing for its prepared foods business.
• Crepini LLCcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Cal-Maine Foods completed a strategic investment with Crepini LLC establishing a joint venture for egg products and prepared foods. Crepini produces zero net carb egg wraps and the partnership provides Cal-Maine with capabilities in specialty egg-based prepared foods and access to the better-for-you frozen breakfast segment.
• ISE America, Inc.majorOthers · 1 January 2024Cal-Maine Foods acquired ISE America, Inc., adding approximately 4.7 million laying hens with production operations in Maryland, New Jersey, Delaware and South Carolina, significantly expanding East Coast production capacity.
• Echo Lake FoodsmajorOthers · 1 January 2024Cal-Maine Foods acquired Echo Lake Foods, adding production and distribution of ready-to-eat egg products and breakfast foods. Echo Lake Foods operates prepared foods facilities in Kentucky, Indiana, Missouri, New York, and Wisconsin.
• Fassio Egg Farms, Inc.majorOthers · 4 October 2023Cal-Maine Foods completed acquisition of Fassio Egg Farms' assets related to shell egg production and processing in Utah. The expansion includes facilities with approximately 1.2 million laying hens, supporting Cal-Maine's position as the largest producer and distributor of fresh shell eggs in the U.S.
• MeadowCreek FoodsminorOthers · 1 January 2023Cal-Maine Foods made an investment in MeadowCreek Foods to focus on hard-cooked egg products, expanding product capabilities in the processed egg segment.

Scale indicators15 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• Eggland's Best: Licensed specialty egg brand distributed in part by Cal-Maine itself. Functions as both a partner and a brand competitor in the nutritionally enhanced/premium retail tier.

Direct peers

• Vital Farms: Publicly traded (NASDAQ: VITL) pasture-raised and specialty egg producer competing with Cal-Maine's Farmhouse, 4GRAIN, and Eggland's Best premium SKUs. Comparable product positioning though at smaller scale and exclusively pasture-raised.
• Michael Foods (Post Holdings): Leading processor of liquid, frozen, and dried egg products as well as prepared egg foods. A core competitor in the egg products and ingredients segment that overlaps Cal-Maine's egg-products processing facilities.
• Rose Acre Farms: Second-largest US shell egg producer and named co-defendant in the same DOJ antitrust and price-fixing actions as Cal-Maine. Vertically integrated, multi-state operations and similar commodity-plus-specialty positioning make it the closest comparable.
• Pete & Gerry's Organic Eggs: Specialty cage-free and organic egg producer with branded retail presence. Competes directly in the premium and organic tier where Cal-Maine also fields branded offerings.
• Sauder's Eggs: Pennsylvania-based family egg producer with shell egg and egg products manufacturing across the Mid-Atlantic. Comparable mid-sized vertically integrated producer and one of the operators Cal-Maine has effectively out-scaled in its core geographies.
• Versova Holdings: Large US shell egg and cage-free egg producer also named in the DOJ antitrust lawsuit alongside Cal-Maine. Comparable scale, product mix, and customer base of major retail and foodservice customers.

Broad incumbents

• Tyson Foods: Multinational protein-focused food company with prepared foods (Jimmy Dean, Hillshire Farm) and prior involvement with the Dexter, Missouri plant now used by Cal-Maine's prepared foods unit. Overlaps in breakfast/protein prepared foods and foodservice distribution.
• Kraft Heinz (Just Crack An Egg, Egg products): Major CPG company with egg-based prepared breakfast products and broader refrigerated portfolio. Comparable in prepared foods/CPG channel dynamics where Cal-Maine is expanding via Van's and Echo Lake.
• Cargill: Global agribusiness and food ingredient company with egg products and prepared foods exposure. Competes in B2B egg ingredients and foodservice channels where Cal-Maine sells its egg-products line.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cal-maine-foods-inc.

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles15 records

Subsidiaries7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A8 records

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Cal-Maine Foods