November 26, 2024 — The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California has approved settlement agreements between plaintiffs StarKist and Bumble Bee in lawsuits related to alleged price-fixing of canned tuna.
End-payer and direct-purchaser plaintiffs sued Chicken of the Sea, Bumble Bee, and StarKist in the U.S. for their alleged connections to a price-fixing scheme for canned tuna.
August 23, 2023 — A federal judge has ruled former Bumble Bee Foods owner Lion Capital can be held liable in a civil lawsuit alleging it was involved in a price-fixing conspiracy involving the so-called “big three” U.S. tuna companies – Bumble Bee, Starkist, and Chicken of the Sea.
The U.K.-based private equity firm purchased Bumble Bee in 2010 and operated it until it was sold out of bankruptcy to FCF Co. in 2019, following its guilty plea to a charge of price-fixing, forcing it to pay a USD 25 million (EUR 22.6 million) fine and millions more in civil damages.
March 21, 2022 — Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP) has announced a new partnership with the Thai Union Group, one of the world’s leading seafood producers.
SFP was founded in 2006 and is a marine conservation organization working towards healthy oceans and sustainable seafood by leveraging the power of seafood buyers and retailers in the seafood supply chain. Thai Union is the world’s third largest seafood company as well as one of the largest producers of shelf-stable tuna products, and it owns and operates Chicken of the Sea and Red Lobster. The company’s annual sales exceed THB 141 billion (USD 4.5 billion, EUR 4.1 billion) and it has a workforce of more than 44,000 people.
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July 28, 2021 — Chicken of the Sea is encouraging vaccinated Americans to gather together for family occasions with a new promotion.
Consumers can enter to win one of twenty USD 500 (EUR 423) “Reunion Grants” – a total of USD 10,000 (EUR 8,500) – to ensure their outdoor gatherings “are the most memorable yet for family and friends,” Chicken of the Sea said in a press release.
June 29, 2021 — Avanti Frozen Foods Pvt. Ltd., a subsidiary of Thai Union, is recalling major branded and private-label shrimp in the United States because of the potential for salmonella contamination.
Affected brands include Safeway’s Waterfront Bistro, Whole Foods’ 365, Censea, Chicken of the Sea, Hannaford, Meijer, Open Acres, Honest Catch, and CWNO.
June 24, 2021 — A recent seafood industry traceability pilot study conducted by GS1 US supports the value of universal standards to help seafood companies efficiently and effectively exchange supply chain data and improve end-to-end visibility.
The study was conducted in collaboration with the Global Dialogue on Seafood Traceability (GDST), the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), Beaver Street Fisheries, Bumble Bee Seafoods, Chicken of the Sea, FoodLogiQ, IBM Food Trust, Insite Solutions/Norpac, ripe.io, SAP, Walmart, and Wholechain. It follows a similar 2020 prototype that confirmed traceability solutions from FoodLogiQ, IBM Food Trust, ripe.io and SAP can operate, transmit, and exchange product data throughout a supply chain when GS1 Standards are applied.
June 16, 2021 — Chicken of the Sea has announced the launch of several new products into U.S. foodservice and retail channels, centering on shrimp and crab.
The Thai Union Group-owned seafood giant has debuted a line of seven frozen value-added shrimp products, along with crab cakes.
April 19, 2021 — Chicken of the Sea is nearing two settlements in civil litigation launched against it in relation to its role in fixing the prices of canned tuna.
The El Segundo, California, U.S.A.-based company and its parent firm, Thai Union, have agreed in principle on two separate agreements with those who claim to have overpaid for tuna it sold between 2011 and 2015 – allegations that stem from a criminal case in which Chicken of the Sea served as a whistleblower.
February 18, 2021 — The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the blue and red swimming crab market are ongoing, and have combined to make the industry a more complicated prospect for importers.
Chicken of the Sea Vice President and National Fisheries Institute (NFI) Crab Council Executive Robert Kragh – speaking during NFI’s Global Seafood Market Conference webinar series – said the impacts of COVID-19 on the market were immediate from a producer perspective. SeafoodSource is providing exclusive coverage of the GSMC webinar series, which will be providing exclusive market-focused content throughout 2021.
July 15, 2020 — Tuna fish has surged in popularity thanks to pantry loading during the coronavirus pandemic, but producers of the canned fish are dealing with higher prices and other challenges that are making it difficult to keep up with the increased demand.
Americans have been buying more canned tuna during the economic downturn, in part because it is one of the cheapest proteins on the market, costing as little as $1 for a 5-ounce can. Bumble Bee Foods said sales of canned and pouched tuna jumped as much as 100% from mid-March to early April, while Costco Wholesale Corp. put limits earlier this year on how many tuna containers a customer could purchase.
Even after the initial feeding frenzy, canned tuna producers say sales for these products have remained significantly higher than a year earlier.
Companies have been able to keep retail prices steady for tuna so far, even though average wholesale prices for tuna were up 41% from a year earlier in the year through May after reaching decade lows late last year, according to data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
Prices vary depending on where the fish is bought. Skipjack tuna purchased in Bangkok cost $1,200 a metric ton in June, up 14% from December 2019 but down from a peak of $1,500 in March, according to data from Thai Union Group, a global seafood-based food producer that owns the Chicken of the Sea canned tuna brand.
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