Community Chat

[novamc1]

November 22, 2019

The company announced an agreement to sell assets amid legal woes.

William Sprouse

https://www.cfo.com/bankruptcy/2019/11/bumble-bee-files-for-chapter-11-bankruptcy-protection/

Bumble Bee Foods has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, citing “recent and significant legal challenges.” In a statement Thursday, the San Diego-based company said it had entered into an agreement with FCF Fishery, its largest creditor, to sell its assets for approximately $925 million.

“It is our clear intent that all U.S. and Canadian operations continue uninterrupted. Employees will get paid, our customer partners can count on us to continue delivering outstanding brands and services, and vendors will be paid in the ordinary course of business,” Bumble Bee said in a statement.

The FCF bid includes $275 million in cash and $638.5 million in debt. Bumble Bee said it would file bid procedures and a sale motion promptly, and FCF would serve as a stalking horse for the sales process. It said it has sufficient liquidity to fund the business through the closing of the sale, which it anticipated within 60 to 90 days.

“It’s been a challenging time for our company but today’s actions allow us to move forward with minimal disruption to our day-to-day operations,” chief executive officer Jan Tharp said in a statement.

In its bankruptcy filing, the company said it owes the Department of Justice $17 million stemming from a 2017 guilty plea when it acknowledged price-fixing and forming a cartel with Chicken of the Sea and StarKist.

Bumble Bee’s CEO at the time, Christopher Lischewski, was indicted and the company was fined $25 million for its role in that conspiracy. StarKist was fined $100 million. Bumble Bee’s fine was initially $136.2 million but that figure was reduced when it was revealed the company could not pay without jeopardizing the viability of the organization.

Lischewski is currently on trial in federal court in Northern California.

[cherry]

I like their white albacore tuna. I think it is a good brand. I am sorry to hear of this

[Porcelain]

Demonstrates how crucial it is for a CEO to have extremely high moral character. Lowlifes ruin companies and lose everyone their jobs.

[sidsmom]

And don't forget about the employee getting killed in the

pressure cooker w/ the canned tuna:\...🤢🤢🤢

Aug. 12, 2015, 4:15 PM CDT / Updated Aug. 12, 2015, 4:21 PM CDT

By Alex Johnson

"Bumble Bee Foods will pay $6 million in the 2012 death of an employee who was cooked in an industrial oven with tons of tuna — the biggest settlement ever in a California for workplace safety violations involving a single victim, prosecutors said Wednesday."

💚🌿💚🌿💚🌿💚

Also...maybe a result of the plant based movement:

"Canned tuna consumption plunged 42% in the three decades through 2016, according to the Department of Agriculture, and sales of fish dropped 4% by volume from 2013 to October 2018. Tuna companies like Bumble Bee Foods LLC and StarKist Co. have tried to drive demand for the canned cupboard staple by repackaging it in pouches and kits to position it as more of a healthy snack to win back consumers. Some have even blamed minnenials for the drop in sales.

Meanwhile, as more consumers embrace vegetarian diets — for reasons ranging from environmental to financial - sales of plant-based meats are on the rise. Sales grew 24% from 2017 to 2018, according to thePlant Based Foods Association. There’s certainly a market for alternative seafood products, considering 4.3 billion people rely on fish for 15% of their animal protein intake, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations."

[chickenbutt]

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@cherry wrote:

I like their white albacore tuna. I think it is a good brand. I am sorry to hear of this

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I love white albacore, also.  If you have Costco, their Kirkland brand white albacore in water is excellent.    It's the best canned tuna, IMO, and I always have some on hand even though I make a point of not eating it too frequently for obvious reasons.   

[ValuSkr]

I used to like Bumble Bee but was turned off when, four years ago, an employee was cooked alive in 12,000 pounds of tuna fish.  It was a horrific accident.

[novamc1]

For years I've been buying Costco's white albacore and  their skipjack by Wild Planet (I think that's the name).  Recently  decided to switch  to light tuna and bought Chicken of the Sea from Costco.

It's supposedy wild-caught and comes from Thailand.

Made tuna salad with it for the first time last week, and it was really good. 

It even looked good when I opened the can.  Years ago, some cans of various brands seemed to contain mainly water and didn't even look or smell great.

I noticed in the bankruptcy story that Chicken of the Sea is not mentioned as having been fined for its role in price-fixing.  Maybe that's why Costco buys from that company?

[millieshops]

@chickenbuttJust this morning in my Costco. I had picked up a stack of their tuna, but put it back when I saw the price.  I like Bumble Bee better so if I have to pay up, I'll paty up for BB. Sorry to hear they're in pain.

At Costco, I bought s stack of canned salmon instead although I was disappointed that there was no red salmon on the shelves.  That's my real preference for emergency meals.

[tipsy]

I belong to both Sam's Club & Costco. 

Sam's carries BumbleBee which I prefer. 

I have bought tuna at Costco before, but the Kirkland was more expensive than the Chicken-of-the-Sea which they carry.

[ValuSkr]

Wegmans' canned tuna is labelled "yellowfin."  I haven't heard of it, but reviews are good.  Wegmans also has albacore but of course it's more expensive.