StarKist Tuna is a brand of

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 ...

produced by StarKist Co., an American company formerly based in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

's North Shore that is now wholly owned by Dongwon Industries of

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

. It was purchased by Dongwon from the American food manufacturer

Del Monte Foods Del Monte Foods Inc. ( trading as Del Monte Foods) is an American food production and distribution company and subsidiary of NutriAsia, headquartered in Walnut Creek, California. Del Monte Foods is one of the largest producers, distributor ...

on June 24, 2008, for slightly more than $300 million. In 2021, the headquarters were moved to

Reston, Virginia Reston is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, and a principal city of both Northern Virginia and the Washington metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, Reston's population was 63,226. Founded in 1964, Rest ...

History

StarKist was founded in 1917 in

San Pedro, California San Pedro ( ; ) is a neighborhood located within the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay and Los Angeles Harbor Region, Harbor region of the city of Los Angeles, California, United States. Formerly a separate city, it consolidated with Los ...

(known historically as "Fish Harbor") as the French Sardine Company of California, by Martin J. Bogdanovich (an immigrant from

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

) and several partners. Bogdanovich is known for his innovations related to refrigeration of the seafood product with crushed ice. They first marketed tuna under the Starkist name in 1942. Bogdanovich died in 1944 and his son Joseph (1912–2005) took over the business. The company changed its name to Starkist Foods in 1953; at the time, its facility on

Terminal Island Terminal Island, historically known as , is a largely artificial island located in Los Angeles County, California, between the neighborhoods of Wilmington, Los Angeles, Wilmington and San Pedro, Los Angeles, San Pedro in the city of Los Angeles ...

was the largest tuna processing facility in the world. Since 1961 its

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, sports team, university society, society, military unit, or brand, brand name. Mascots are als ...

has been Charlie the Tuna, an

anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics to ...

cartoon A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently Animation, animated, in an realism (arts), unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or s ...

. Commercials usually featured the phrase "Sorry, Charlie". StarKist was acquired by the H.J. Heinz Company in 1963. In 1984, the Terminal Island cannery operations were shut down. In 1988, Heinz spun off its pet food brands (including its flagship 9Lives cat food brand, which was introduced as a tuna-based cat food in 1959) into a separate division (Joseph Bogdanovich became a Heinz vice-chairman). Heinz sold both divisions to Del Monte in 2002. In August 2015, StarKist settled a

class-action lawsuit A class action is a form of lawsuit. Class Action may also refer to: * ''Class Action'' (film), 1991, starring Gene Hackman and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio * Class Action (band), a garage house band * "Class Action" (''Teenage Robot''), a 2002 e ...

claiming that the company was guilty of deliberately "under-filling" five-ounce cans of tuna. Earlier that same month, StarKist was sued, accused of colluding with

Bumble Bee Foods Bumble Bee Foods, LLC, is an American company that produces canned tuna, salmon, other seafoods, and chicken under the brand names "Bumble Bee," "Wild Selections," "Beach Cliff," "Brunswick," and "Snow's." The brand is marketed as " Clover L ...

and Chicken of the Sea to fix prices. On October 18, 2018, StarKist agreed to plead guilty to a felony price fixing charge as part of a broad collusion investigation of the canned tuna industry by the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a United States federal executive departments, federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of Law of the Unite ...

. On September 11, 2019, StarKist was fined $100 million, the maximum statutory fine. In September 2019, the plaintiffs who had signed up for the class-action lawsuit that was "settled" in August 2015 were finally paid their share of the settlement. Plaintiffs who signed up for the $50 in tuna certificates received a coupon good for $5.03 provided they buy at least three Starkist products totaling more than that amount. Plaintiffs who signed up for the $25 cash received a PayPal payment of $2.38 representing their share of the settlement after the law firm's costs had been deducted. StarKist moved its corporate headquarters to

in 2022.

References

{{Reflist, 30em

External links

Official site

Image of workers picketing the StarKist cannery on Terminal Island, California,1984.

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

Photographic Archive (Collection 1429). UCLA Library Special Collections,

Charles E. Young Research Library The Charles E. Young Research Library is one of the largest libraries on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles in Westwood, Los Angeles, California. It initially opened in 1964, and a second phase of construction was completed ...

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

. Canned meat Seafood companies of the United States Del Monte Foods brands Fish processing companies Food product brands 2008 mergers and acquisitions American companies established in 1917 American subsidiaries of foreign companies

History

See also

References

External links