| Type | Seafoods |
|---|---|
| Owner | Thai Union Group |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Markets | World |
| Previous owners | 1888 – naming rights purchased by Pelling Stanley and Company 1964 – John West brand moved under Unilever corp 1997 – Heinz acquired the brand and John West Food company. 2006 – Heinz sold off the John West brands to the Lehman Brothers banking group |
| Website | www.john-west.co.uk |
John West Foods is a United Kingdom-based seafood marketing company established on 19 May 1879, and currently owned by Thai Union Group. They are most famous as a producer of canned salmon and tuna, marketed under the long-running brand motto It's the fish John West rejects, that make John West the best.[1]
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The original company was founded by T. L. Pelling and C. H. Stanley, who created Pelling Stanley and Company in 1861. The company soon specialized in importing canned food, which at the time was a novel product. By 1879, they were importing canned salmon from the John West company in Oregon, USA. Pelling Stanley purchased the rights to use the John West name in 1888. The first shipments of John West Salmon appeared in 1892.[2][3]
By 1924, the three companies, operating separately, were all associated with Unilever:
By 1964, Unilever had merged the three into one company, John West Foods. Branches were expanded to Australia and Africa in 1974.
In 1997, Heinz acquired the brand and the majority of the John West Food company operations, excluding those in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa which continued to be part of Unilever.[4] In March 2006, Heinz sold its European Seafoods business to French-based MW Brands, itself owned by Lehman Brothers banking group, for EUR 425 million.[5][6]
After Lehman's insolvency, the business was bought in the resultant assets sale by Barclays Bank. In 2010, Thailand-based seafood processing company Thai Union Group bought MW Brands, resultantly becoming the world's largest canned-tuna producer.
In August 2008, John West was assessed by conservation group Greenpeace as selling the least sustainable tinned tuna in the UK. Despite claiming that they 'only purchase fish which is caught with no harm to the marine environment', John West was criticised for indiscriminate use of destructive fishing methods leading to the decimation of turtle and shark populations. Greenpeace also noted that John West failed to show sufficient care in selecting healthier fish stocks.[7]
To increase their UK market share, in November 2000 John West canned salmon started a marketing campaign revolving around a viral video in which what appears to be a bear fights a fisherman for a fresh salmon. The video soon became a huge Internet meme, and by 2006 it was reported to be viewed over 300 million times, making it the sixth most viewed video online.[8]
The video was filmed on Invercauld Estate, near Balmoral, on the River Dee in the Scottish Highlands. Directed by Danny Kleinman, created by Paul Silburn and voiced by Tony Clarkin, the video campaign won a number of awards, including:[9]