On Friday November 22nd, Bumble Bee Foods, the company that produces canned tuna, salmon, other seafoods, filed for bankruptcy. Bumble Bee Food has many brand under their name such as “Bumble Bee,” “Wild Selections,” “Beach Cliff,” “Brunswick,” and “Snow’s.”
For those who don’t know, Bumble Bee Foods owns a factory here in Cape May County right at the foot of the Middle Thorofare Bridge. The announcement of the bankruptcy stirred up some concern here in Cape May County.
The good news is that Bumble Bee Foods filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection with an agreement for a buyout. Taiwan-based FCF Fishery has agreed to purchase its assets for roughly $925 million. FCF Fishery was the largest creditor to Bumble Bee Foods.
They had fallen into debt due to a 2017 guilty ruling that found them guilt for price-fixing. They were fined for $25 million which they couldn’t pay off. This plus the major decline in can tuna sales pushed Bumble Bee Foods over the edge.
According to U.S. Department of Agriculture dat, consumption of canned tuna has dropped 42% per capita from the last 30 years through 2016.
We reached out to Bumble Bee Foods for a comment but no responded.
