From PoAnd Po Agrifish, June 4:
Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a civil lawsuit against Starkist, one of the world’s largest canned tuna manufacturers and the former CEO of Bumble Bee Foods, another large tuna manufacturer, over a price fixing conspiracy that drove up the cost of packaged tuna for more than a decade, costing Washingtonians at least $6 million.....MUCH MORE
Ferguson’s lawsuit makes Washington the first state to bring a case over this conspiracy.
Ferguson’s charges, filed in King County Superior Court, assert StarKist Co., its parent company Dongwon, and former Bumble Bee Foods CEO Christopher Lischewski, engaged in a price-fixing conspiracy from 2004 through 2015 to drive up the cost of packaged tuna, violating Washington’s Consumer Protection Act.
As a result, Washington residents paid millions more than they should have. StarKist is the leading manufacturer of packaged tuna, accounting for 40 percent of the market share.
The conspiracy affected the prices consumers paid for packaged tuna, including cans and pouches. For example, if a consumer would have normally paid $1 for a five-ounce can of chunk light tuna — one of the most popular tuna products — they would actually have paid perhaps $1.08 as a result of this conspiracy.
“We cannot have a free market when corporate titans are able to tip the scales to their own bank accounts,” Ferguson said. “Washingtonians lost millions as a result of this corporate greed. I intend to get that back for them.”....
*Previously:
Fishy Business: "This government price-fixing case makes the tuna industry sound like the mafia "
Private Equity Owned Bumble Bee Tuna Prepping for Bankruptcy
Guilty Verdict: "Ex-Bumble Bee CEO Is Latest Catch in Tuna Price-Fixing Hunt"
