Chicken of the Sea is a packager and provider of seafood, owned by the Thai Union Group in Samut Sakhon, Thailand. The brand is attached to tuna, salmon, clams, crab, shrimp, mackerel, oysters, kippers and sardines in cans, pouches and cups, as are its sister brands, Genova and Ace of Diamonds. History The company was founded in 1914 when Frank Van Camp and his son bought the California Tuna Canning Company and changed its name to the Van Camp Seafood Company. The phrase "Chicken of the Sea", first devised as a way to describe the taste, was so successful that soon it also became the company name. In 1963, Van Camp Seafood Company was purchased by Ralston Purina. In 1988, Ralston sold its Van Camp division to an Indonesian corporation, P.T. Mantrust, which had financial problems, and the primary creditor, Prudential Life Insurance Company, became the majority owner. In 1997 the company was purchased by the investment group Tri-Union Seafoods LLC, made up of three partners: Thai Union International Inc., a Thai conglomerate based in Bangkok and the then-largest tuna packer in Asia and second largest in the world Edmund A. Gann, American owner of Caribbean Marine Service, Co., Inc., a tuna-fishing fleet Tri-Marine International, Inc., a global trading company formed in Singapore in 1972 dealing in tuna and tuna products headed by Renato Curto, president and majority shareholder. The new owners changed the name of Van Camp Seafood Company to Chicken of the Sea International. In 2000, Tri-Marine International Inc and Edmund A. Gann sold their 50 percent interest in Chicken of the Sea to Thai Union International, Inc., leaving Thai Union the sole owner of the company. Chicken of the Sea International and Tri-Union International LLC merged into one company, still called Chicken of the Sea International. With the 2003 acquisition of Empress International, an importer of frozen shrimp and other shellfish, Chicken of the Sea's total annual sales climbed to US$600 million. In 2006, Thai Union formed a new division, Chicken of the Sea Frozen Foods, to focus on sales of premium quality fresh and frozen seafood products. This division grew quickly, enhancing Chicken of the Sea's brand awareness and distribution in the food service and retail industries. In August 2015, Olean Wholesale Grocery, a regional cooperative of supermarkets in upstate New York, sued Chicken of the Sea and both of its competitors, Bumble Bee Foods and