Bumble Bee Foods, LLC, is an American company that produces canned

tuna A tuna (: tunas or tuna) is a saltwater fish that belongs to the tribe Thunnini, a subgrouping of the Scombridae ( mackerel) family. The Thunnini comprise 15 species across five genera, the sizes of which vary greatly, ranging from the bul ...

salmon Salmon (; : salmon) are any of several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the genera ''Salmo'' and ''Oncorhynchus'' of the family (biology), family Salmonidae, native ...

, other

seafood Seafood is any form of Marine life, sea life regarded as food by humans, prominently including Fish as food, fish and shellfish. Shellfish include various species of Mollusca, molluscs (e.g., bivalve molluscs such as clams, oysters, and mussel ...

s, and chicken under the brand names "Bumble Bee," "Wild Selections," "Beach Cliff," "Brunswick," and "Snow's." The brand is marketed as " Clover Leaf" in Canada. The company is headquartered in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

, United States. It is owned by

FCF Co, Ltd. FCF Co, Ltd. (FCF) is a privately held Taiwanese seafood conglomerate. They are one of the largest tuna traders in the world. Overview FCF is one of the largest tuna traders in the world. They are privately held. They are one of the largest inte ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

History

The Bumble Bee company began in 1899 when seven salmon canners in

Astoria, Oregon Astoria is a Port, port city in and the county seat of Clatsop County, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1811, Astoria is the oldest city in the state and was the first permanent American settlement west of the Rocky Mountains. The county is the ...

, formed the Columbia River Packers Association (CRPA) under the leadership of Andrew B. Hammond. The Bumble Bee brand was introduced in 1910. The CRPA incorporated in 1924, and in 1946, Transamerica acquired a

controlling interest A controlling interest is an ownership interest in a corporation with enough voting stock shares to prevail in any stockholders' motion. A majority of voting shares (over 50%) is always a controlling interest. When a party holds less than the maj ...

in CRPA, Inc. After partnering with Wards Cove Packing Company in 1959, CRPA became the world's largest salmon packer. In 1961,

Castle & Cooke Castle & Cooke, Inc., is a Los Angeles-based company that was once part of the Big Five companies in territorial Hawaii. The company at one time did most of its business in agriculture, including becoming, through mergers with the modern Dole F ...

acquired CRPA by merger and changed the name of the company to Bumble Bee Seafoods after its most famous brand. 1977 Bumble Bee Tuna Print Ad

Bumble Bee acquired parts of

Westgate-California Corporation Westgate-California Corporation (WCC, 1956–1982) was a public company and a vehicle for the business interests of C. Arnholt Smith (1899–1996), a San Diego banker, businessman, civic booster, political fundraiser and felon. During its existen ...

's tuna operations, based in San Diego, after the later company's collapse. Since the mid-1980s, Bumble Bee has undergone several ownership changes, beginning with Castle & Cooke's sale of Bumble Bee in a

leveraged buyout A leveraged buyout (LBO) is the acquisition of a company using a significant proportion of borrowed money (Leverage (finance), leverage) to fund the acquisition with the remainder of the purchase price funded with private equity. The assets of t ...

to management in 1985. The management team, having paid off their leveraged debt before their 5-year goal, sold Bumble Bee to Pillsbury in 1988 contingent upon the president, Patrick Rose, and the management team staying on for five years, Pillsbury in turn, following its December 1988,

hostile takeover In business, a takeover is the purchase of one company (law), company (the ''target'') by another (the ''acquirer'' or ''bidder''). In the UK, the term refers to the acquisition of a public company whose shares are publicly listed, in contrast t ...

Grand Metropolitan Grand Metropolitan plc was a leisure, manufacturing and property conglomerate headquartered in England. The company was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index until it merged with Guinness plc to form ...

PLC, was forced to sell the brand the following year to the Thai company Unicord. Bumble Bee went bankrupt in 1997, and was sold to

International Home Foods International Home Foods (IHF) was an American manufacturer, distributor and marketer of food products, based in Parsippany, New Jersey. It was acquired in 2000 by ConAgra Foods and merged into ConAgra's Grocery Products division. IHF's best kno ...

, the former food unit of

American Home Products Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Inc. was a pharmaceutical company until it was purchased by Pfizer in 2009. The company was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1860 as John Wyeth and Brother. Its headquarters moved to Collegeville, Pennsylvania, ...

ConAgra Foods Conagra Brands, Inc. (formerly ConAgra Foods) is an American consumer packaged goods holding company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Conagra makes and sells products under various brand names that are available in supermarkets, restaurants, ...

acquired International Home Foods in 2000; it sold Bumble Bee to the private equity firm Centre Partners in 2003. The Canadian company

Connors Brothers Limited Connors Brothers Limited was a fish packing company founded by Lewis and Patrick Connors in the 1880s and based in Blacks Harbour, New Brunswick. It is known by the Brunswick brand, and is the only remaining producer of sardines in North America. ...

merged with Bumble Bee in 2004. The company was renamed Bumble Bee Foods, LLC in 2005. Centre Partners acquired the company again in 2008 and sold it to Lion Capital in 2010. In August 2015, Bumble Bee Foods was sued, accused of

colluding Collusion is a deceitful agreement or secret cooperation between two or more parties to limit open competition by deceiving, misleading or defrauding others of their legal right. Collusion is not always considered illegal. It can be used to att ...

with

Chicken of the Sea Chicken of the Sea is a packager and provider of seafood, owned by the Thai Union Group in Samut Sakhon, Thailand. The brand is attached to tuna, salmon, clams, crab, shrimp, mackerel, oysters, kippers and sardines in cans, pouches and cups ...

and

StarKist StarKist Tuna is a brand of tuna produced by StarKist Co., an American company formerly based in Pittsburgh's North Shore that is now wholly owned by Dongwon Industries of South Korea. It was purchased by Dongwon from the American food manufact ...

to fix prices. Bumble Bee's former CEO, Christopher Lischewski, was indicted in May 2018 for price fixing. After pleading not guilty he was found guilty of conspiring to fix prices of cans of tuna sold in the US from November 2010 to December 2013. In 2014, Puerto Rican celebrity chef, Doreen Colondres, became a brand ambassador for the company, hoping to appeal to Latin American audiences. Bumble Bee Foods was in talks to merge with

, but the merger was called off on December 3, 2015, after the

Department of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

expressed "Serious Concerns" raised by

Olean Wholesale Grocery Olean Wholesale Grocery was a retailers' cooperative serving independent supermarket A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, orga ...

, a regional wholesaler that had sued the two companies over alleged

Sherman Antitrust Act The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 (, ) is a United States antitrust law which prescribes the rule of free competition among those engaged in commerce and consequently prohibits unfair monopolies. It was passed by Congress and is named for S ...

violations.

Recalls

In 1982, 40 million cans of Bumble Bee tuna were recalled due to holes in some cans. In 2007, a case of

botulism Botulism is a rare and potentially fatal illness caused by botulinum toxin, which is produced by the bacterium ''Clostridium botulinum''. The disease begins with weakness, blurred vision, Fatigue (medical), feeling tired, and trouble speaking. ...

caused by food produced at a

Castleberry's Food Company Castleberry's Food Company is an Augusta, Georgia-based canned food company founded in the 1920s by Clement Stewart Castleberry with the help of his father Clement Lamar Castleberry and closed in March 2008 by the United States Food and Drug A ...

plant owned and operated by Bumble Bee prompted a recall. In 2010, the

USDA The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commerc ...

announced a recall of Bumble Bee chicken salad products due to pieces of plastic found in packaging.

2019 bankruptcy

On November 21, 2019, Bumble Bee Parent, Inc. and four affiliated companies filed for bankruptcy in the

United States District Court for the District of Delaware The United States District Court for the District of Delaware (in case citations, D. Del.) is the United States district court, Federal district court having jurisdiction over the entire state of Delaware. The Court sits in Wilmington, Delaware, ...

. The company has filed a motion to approve the sale of the company's assets.

acquired Bumble Bee in March 2020 for $928 million.

Lawsuits

Death of Jose Melena

On October 11, 2012, Jose Melena entered an

industrial oven Industrial ovens are heated chambers used for a variety of industrial applications, including drying, Curing (chemistry), curing, or baking components, parts or final products. Industrial ovens can be used for large or small volume application ...

at the

Santa Fe Springs, California Santa Fe Springs (''Santa Fe'', Spanish for "Holy Faith") is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is one of the Gateway Cities of southeast Los Angeles County. The population was 19,219 at the 2020 census, up from 16,22 ...

, Bumble Bee plant, loading cans of tuna for sterilization. Unaware of Melena's presence in the oven, other workers loaded 12,000 pounds of tuna, trapping him inside. Over two hours, Melena was cooked to death and was only discovered by responding

emergency service Emergency services and rescue services are organizations that ensure public safety, security, and health by addressing and resolving different emergencies. Some of these agencies exist solely for addressing certain types of emergencies, while oth ...

s from

Santa Fe Springs Santa Fe Springs (''Santa Fe'', Spanish for "Holy Faith") is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is one of the Gateway Cities of southeast Los Angeles County. The population was 19,219 at the 2020 census, up from 16,22 ...

Fire Department A fire department (North American English) or fire brigade (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), also known as a fire company, fire authority, fire district, fire and rescue, or fire service in some areas, is an organi ...

. His death was described by Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Hoon Chun as "the worst circumstances of death I have ever, ever witnessed," and that "I think any person would prefer to be, if they had to die some way, to be shot or stabbed." In 2013, the company was fined nearly $74,000 and cited for six safety violations for the death and an additional $750,000 in fines, penalties and court costs in 2015. In April 2015, felony charges related to the accident were brought against the company, the director of plant operations, and the director of safety. The Los Angeles district attorney alleged that the accused willfully violated worker safety rules. To settle the criminal charges, Bumble Bee Foods agreed to pay $6 million, while two managers were to pay a total of $30,000 in fines.

2025 forced labor lawsuit

In March 2025, lawyers representing four Indonesian fishermen filed a lawsuit against the company, accusing it of violating the Trafficking Victims Protection Act. The fishermen reported that they were they were beaten and trapped on vessels fishing for

albacore tuna The albacore (''Thunnus alalunga''), known also as the longfin tuna, is a species of tuna of the order Scombriformes. It is found in temperate and tropical waters across the globe in the epipelagic and mesopelagic zones. There are six distinct s ...

Canneries

The company formerly ran a cannery in Astoria, Oregon, the

Samuel Elmore Cannery Samuel Elmore Cannery was a U.S. National Historic Landmark in Astoria, Oregon that was designated in 1966 but was delisted in 1993.. The home of "Bumble Bee" brand tuna, it was the longest continuously-operated salmon cannery in the United Stat ...

, which had been designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

. The deteriorating structure was later slated for demolition, and the facility burned down in 1993. Today, the company has canneries in Santa Fe Springs, California.

The brand is known for its "Yum Yum Bumble Bee" advertising,

jingle A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meanings that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually ...

originally penned by Callie Kocemba. The jingle was adapted into a song by the

ska Ska (; , ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a w ...

band

Mephiskapheles Mephiskapheles is a ska band based in New York City. Their name is a portmanteau of "ska" and "Mephistopheles", of the Faust legend. As their name suggests, their lyrics are often playfully Satanism, satanic in nature. Career 1989–1994: Forma ...

on their 1994 record ''

God Bless Satan ''God Bless Satan'' is the debut album of ska band Mephiskapheles. It was released in 1994 on Moon Ska Records. The album has playful and satanic undertones. Track listing # "Mephiskapheles" – 4:57 # "Satanic Debris" – 4:16 # "Bad John ...

''. Horatio, a bee, is the mascot of the brand.

References

External links

Bumble Bee Cannery Museum/Hanthorn Cannery Foundation
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140330022549/http://www.canneryworker.org/wordpress1/ , date=2014-03-30 1899 establishments in Oregon American companies established in 1899 Astoria, Oregon Canned meat Columbia River Manufacturing companies based in San Diego Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2019 Food and drink companies established in 1899 Food product brands Fish processing companies Private equity portfolio companies Seafood companies of the United States 2008 mergers and acquisitions 2010 mergers and acquisitions 2019 mergers and acquisitions