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Who owns Bumble Bee Foods? Company says 'Eat em. Don't throw em' as Trump claims tuna cans were hurled at cops

Trump had claimed that protesters were throwing cans of tuna at law enforcement officials during BLM protests

On September 22, Bumble Bee Seafoods replied to President Donald Trump's claim that protesters were throwing cans of tuna at law enforcement officials during protests against police brutality and racial injustice. During a rally in Pittsburg on September 22, Trump said, "They go out and buy tuna fish and soup. You know that right...? Because they throw it, they throw it, it's the perfect weight — tuna fish. They can really rip it, right? And that hits you. No, it's true. Bumble Bee brand tuna," according to a report by NBC News.

The report further stated that there has been no media news about police being hit by tuna cans. Bumble Bee Seafoods tweeted their reply on September 22. They wrote, "Eat em. Don't throw em."

The president's comment generated reactions on Twitter. One user said, "I didn't realize all the Bumble Bee Tuna I have in my pantry is now considered stockpiling weapons. Interesting." Another user commented, "I don't know what he's talking about. If I have a can of Bumble Bee, I'm making a sandwich. I'd never waste good can of tuna by throwing it at someone." Another said, "Yes, @realDonaldTrump, during a time of recession and food shortages, people are absolutely using canned foods as weapons instead of feeding their children with them. Come on, man!"

Beginnings of Bumble Bee

The company began in 1899 after seven salmon canners in Astoria, Oregon, formed the Columbia River Packers Association (CRPA) under the leadership of Andrew B Hammond. In 1910, the Bumble Bee brand was introduced. In 1946, Transamerica acquired the controlling interest in CRPA, Inc. In 1959, CRPA partnered with Wards Cove Packing Company and became one of the world's largest salmon packers. Castle & Cooke acquired CRPA by merger and changed the name of the company to Bumble Bee Seafoods after its most famous brand.

Since the mid-1980s, the company has gone through multiple ownership changes. It began with Castle & Cooke's selling Bumble Bee in a leveraged buyout to management in 1985. The management team then paid off their leveraged debt before their five-year goal and handed it to Pillsbury in 1988 with the condition that president Patrick Rose and the management team stays on for five years.

Pillsbury, following aggressive takeover by Grand Metropolitan PLC, was forced to sell the brand to the Thai company Unicord. In 1997, Bumble Bee went bankrupt and was sold to International Home Foods, the former food unit of American Home Products. Three years later, ConAgra Foods took over International Home Foods and sold Bumble Bee to the private equity firm Centre Partners in 2003. Bumble Bee merged with the Canadian company Connors Brothers Limited and was renamed Bumble Bee Foods, LLC. Centre Partners acquired the company again in 2008 and sold it to Lion Capital in 2010.

In 2010, the USDA announced a recall of Bumble Bee chicken salad products due to pieces of plastic found in packaging. The company was embroiled in a work safety related controversies. In 2012, a worker died in a pressure cooker at the Santa Fe Springs, California Bumble Bee plant. There were felony charges related to the accident were filed against the company, the director of plant operations, and the director of safety. The Los Angeles district attorney alleged that the accused deliberately violated worker safety rules. Bumble Bee Foods agreed to pay $6 million to settle the matter. 

Bumble Bee Foods was sued in 2015 for allegedly colluding with Chicken of the Sea and StarKist to fix prices. The company CEO, Christopher Lischewski, was charged in May 2018 for price-fixing. After pleading not guilty he was found guilty of conspiring to fix prices of tuna cans sold in the US from November 2010 to December 2013.

Bumble Bee Foods was in the process to merge with Chicken of the Sea, but it was called off on after the Department of Justice expressed “serious concerns”. The regional wholesaler Olean Wholesale Grocery had sued the two companies. According to the New York Times, the wholesaler filed a lawsuit in California. Other grocers, restaurants and retailers — including Walmart, Target and Kroger — also filed lawsuits, and the merger fell apart.

Last year, the company filed for bankruptcy in the US District Court for the District of Delaware. The company filed a motion to approve its assets sale. FCF Co, Ltd. acquired Bumble Bee Foods in March 2020, for $928 million, according to Food Business News.