Bumble Bee Foods has been sold for $928 million to Taiwan-based FCF Co., after years of legal troubles and bankruptcy for the San Diego-based company.

Its headquarters in Petco Park, in the historic Showley Bros. Candy Factory, will not close and no job cuts are planned at this time. Bumble Bee’s previous owner was London-based Lion Capital.

Bumble Bee had filed for bankruptcy in November, amid legal troubles related to price-fixing. The company pleaded guilty to fixing prices from as early as 2011 through at least the end of 2013, said the U.S. Department of Justice.

Former CEO Christopher Lischewski was convicted in December for his part in the conspiracy involving major tuna sellers. Starkist pleaded guilty to the price-fixing charges in 2018, according to Bloomberg News. Chicken of the Sea, which moved its headquarters from San Diego to El Segundo last year, cooperated with the investigation and was not charged.


Fines and litigation cost Bumble Bee millions of dollars, according to bankruptcy documents, eventually leading it to explore a sale.

FCF president Max Chou said in a statement that new Bumble Bee CEO Jan Tharp will stay on the job and the business was poised for future growth and sustainability.

“This is just the beginning of the journey,” Chou said. “FCF’s acquisition of Bumble Bee strengthens our best-in-class sustainability and social responsibility efforts, and puts us in an advantageous position for sustained growth and leadership throughout the tuna and seafood industries.”

FCF had been a supplier to Bumble Bee for decades and has received high marks for sustainability practices by the World Benchmarking Alliance. In its 2019 ranking, the alliance said the company had a strong policy to combat illegal fishing and performed well in governance and stewardship. However, it faulted it for not disclosing detailed information about supply chain sourcing.


The Taiwanese company has processing plants in Papua New Guinea and Ghana. It was founded in 1972 and is still privately held.

About 50 years ago, tuna was San Diego’s third-largest industry, employing about 40,000 workers in catching, canning and marketing the product. The industry moved away from California in the 1980s because of environmental restrictions and other factors, and since have sourced their product from all over the world. Bumble Bee now has about 168 workers at its corporate offices in San Diego and New Jersey.

Aside from the price-fixing charges, the tuna industry has struggled in other areas in recent years.

In 2016, the U.S. fleet were briefly kicked out of one of the richest areas in the world for tuna fishing, the South Pacific — the source of 60 percent of the world’s canned tuna. In 2019, San Diego-based South Pacific Tuna Corp. sold eight of its 14 boats to foreign companies because it alleged U.S. regulations were making business too difficult.


Amid the turmoil has been a fluctuating tuna market. Skipjack tuna in the benchmark Bangkok market is now going for around $1,050 per-metric-ton, down from $1,800 just two years ago, said industry seafood producer Thai Union Group. Analysts blame overfishing for the change.

Tharp, CEO of Bumble Bee, said in a news release that the sale of the company marked the start of a new chapter for the company, its partners, customers and employees.

“We have taken several positive steps this past year to transform the company with a focus on innovation and growth,” she said. “This sale enables us to continue down that exciting and promising path.”

Staff writer Mike Freeman contributed to this article.