FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 11, 2023 

CONTACT: Ashley Woolheater, woolheater@openmarketsinstitute.org 

WASHINGTON – A new report by chef Kiki Louya, published by the Open Markets Institute, examines the peanut industry, where farmer-owned cooperatives like Premium Peanut have seen great success taking on the giant shelling monopolies, and explores how other farmers might use cooperatives to circumvent monopolists.

“Premium Peanut may be an anomaly now,” Louya writes, “but more policy support could open the door for other cooperatives to follow suit.”

Read the report here. 

Summary: Just two companies shell most peanuts in the U.S. Peanut farmers brought antitrust charges against shellers, alleging they conspired to suppress prices. Now, farmers are forming their own shelling cooperatives, and they’re taking off. One of the largest new peanut shelling cooperatives, Premium Peanut, now shells 10% of the U.S. peanut crop. More importantly, Premium Peanut gives farmer owners certainty in how many peanuts they can deliver year over year as well as a share in the profits of processing.

A new report published by the Open Markets Institute, written by chef Kiki Louya, looks at the case of Premium Peanut to better understand how other farmers can use cooperatives to circumvent monopolists. The truth is complicated; while cooperatives hold a lot of promise, peanut farmers benefit from a host of unique federal policies that make them richer than the average farmer and more able to invest in a large cooperative processor. That’s where policy change could come in.

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Kiki Louya is a Detroit-based chef, writer, and food activist. She has been recognized as one of “16 Black Chefs Changing Food in America” by the New York Times for her pursuit of social justice in the kitchen. She also serves as Executive Director of Detroit Food Academy. 

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The Open Markets Fair Food & Farming Systems program, develops and advocates for policies that promote more resilient and environmentally sustainable food systems for the benefit of farmers, food chain workers, and consumers. The program aims to accomplish these goals by studying and exposing the pervasive corporate power and economic concentration throughout the food system.

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