StarKist Reaches Settlement With Buyers Over Tuna Price Fixing Claims

StarKist Co. and former owner Bumble Bee Foods LLC have reached a pre-trial settlement with tuna buyers over antitrust claims related to an alleged canned tuna price-fixing scheme.

StarKist, along with its parent company, Dongwon Industries Co., Ltd., and Lion Capital, which owned Bumble Bee before its 2019 bankruptcy, reached settlements with direct tuna buyers and final payer plaintiffs, according to documents filed Tuesday in the United States District Court for the Southern District of California.

District Court Judge Michael S. Berg ordered the plaintiffs to file motions for preliminary approval of the settlement no later than July 25. The companies did not disclose details of the settlement, but it seeks to thwart multidistrict litigation dating back to 2015, when plaintiffs alleged collusion among tuna companies to set and maintain prices for packaged tuna above competitive levels.

Bumble Bee filed for bankruptcy in 2019 amid fines and civil lawsuits over price fixing. During bankruptcy, its assets were sold to FCF Co. based in Taiwan.

Defendant tuna canning companies were set to go to trial on the full scope of antitrust claims brought by large retailers over their alleged canned tuna price-fixing practices after a federal judge in 2022 denied the companies’ motion for summary judgment.

The plaintiffs are represented by firms including Hagens Berman Sobol & Shapiro LLP. Starkist is represented by firms including Latham & Watkins LLP.

The case is reported in Re: Packaged Seafood Antitrust Litigation, SD Cal., No. 3:15-md-02670, 06/25/24.