The jury has returned a $56 million verdict in a class action filed against three Maine blueberry processing companies on behalf of Maine wild blueberry growers who directly or indirectly sold wild blueberries to them from February 28, 1996, through February 28, 2000. The processors were found liable for participating in a four-year price-fixing conspiracy to fix the base price they paid to growers of wild blueberries. The money will not be distributed until all possible appeals have been exhausted.

In addition to the price-fixing claim, the growers alleged that the processors agreed not to solicit each other's growers, a type of market allocation claim that also is a automatic violation of state antitrust laws. The jury ordered defendants Cherryfield Foods, Inc., Jasper Wyman & Son, Inc., and Allen's Blueberry Freezer, Inc. to pay $18.68 million in damages, the amount which the growers would have been paid absent the processors' conspiracy. After a mandatory trebling of this damage figure under Maine antitrust law, the total amount of the verdict for the growers is $56 million.

The Class is comprised of Maine wild blueberry growers who directly or indirectly sold wild blueberries to any defendant from February 28, 1996 through February 28, 2000 and has been represented since 2000 by Daniel Small of Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld & Toll (Washington, D.C.) and William Robitzek of Berman & Simmons (Lewiston, ME.)

The growers previously settled with former defendant Merrill Blueberry Farms, Inc. on the eve of trial, and both parties jointly have submitted a motion advising the court to preliminarily approve the settlement.