Tri Marine sold to Bolton Group

Bolton Group International has acquired Bellevue, Washington, U.S.A.-based tuna firm Tri Marine, according to an announcement from the companies.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but a press release issued by Tri Marine said 100 percent of the company’s tuna supply chain business was sold to Bolton.

“Bolton has been a valued Tri Marine customer and partner for a very long time,” Tri Marine Renato Curto said. “This transaction ensures our growth and success well into the future. It places Tri Marine employees, partners, suppliers, and customers in highly capable hands. I am grateful that Bolton recognizes the strategic value of maintaining Tri Marine’s existing workforce, network of suppliers and global customer base. We can now focus on the group’s core business and continue to move in the direction that today’s world commands. I am proud of this transaction and know that Bolton is committed to our shared values of transparency, environmental and social responsibility, sustainability, quality and innovation.”

A 5 April message from Curto posted on the company’s website revealed his company had entered negotiations with Milan, Italy-based fast-moving consumer goods conglomerate Bolton Group on a sale. The Bolton Group produces a wide variety of items, such as food, home care, personal care, adhesives, and cosmetics, and has sales channels to more than 100 countries. Its seafood brands include Rio Mare, Palmera, and Saupiquet.

“We are proud of our longtime partnership with Tri Marine and welcome the company into our family,” Bolton Group CEO Marina Nissim said. “We look forward to this exciting new chapter of providing customers worldwide with the highest-quality, sustainably caught tuna. We will continue to build on Tri Marine’s legacy in the industry.”

Bolton intends to retain the Tri Marine name and “support the continued growth of the company,” Nissim said, while Curto will remain CEO of Tri Marine during a transition period.

Founded in 1971, Tri Marine grew under Curto’s leadership – he took over the company in 1985 – to become one of the largest seafood companies in the U.S. as measured by total sales. It conducts fishing, processing, and distribution tuna with a focus “on quality, sustainability, innovation and customer satisfaction.” 

Tri Marine has more than 5,000 employees involved in fishing processing, trading, and distributing tuna. In addition to owning its own tuna brands Ocean Naturals and Choice landing, Tri Marine also supplies various other leading tuna brands worldwide. The company operates 14 purse seiners as well as processing plants in San Pedro, California; Port Louis, Mauritius; the Solomon Islands; the Marshall Islands; Ningbo, China; Barranquilla, Colombia; and Manta, Ecuador. Additionally, it owns National Fisheries Developments, which operates five medium-scale purse seiners and four pole-and-line vessels out of the Solomon Islands, and SolTuna, a cannery in Noro, in the Solomon Islands. The two companies employ a combined 2,400 workers.

Both Tri Marine and Bolton are founding members of the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation, and have achieved Marine Stewardship Council and Fair Trade certifications for several fisheries.