John West Foods is a United Kingdom-based seafood marketing company established in 1857, and currently owned by Thai Union Group of Thailand. The company produces canned salmon and tuna, as well as mackerel, sardine, herring, brisling, anchovies and shellfish. History The original company was founded by T. L. Pelling and C. H. Stanley, who created Pelling Stanley and Company in 1857. 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, US. Pelling Stanley purchased the rights to use the John West name in 1888. The first shipments of John West Salmon appeared in 1892. By 1924, the three companies, operating separately, were all associated with Unilever: Angus Watson and Co. R B Green and Co. Pelling Stanley and Company 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. In June 2003, Simplot Australia bought the John West canned fish business in Australia from Unilever Australasia. 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. In 2010, Thailand-based seafood processing company Thai Union Group bought MWBrands, becoming the world's largest canned-tuna producer. Sustainability issues John West states that their salmon, mackerel and sardine products are certified to the Marine Stewardship Council's (MSC) standard for a well-managed and sustainable fishery, and that every can in these ranges carries the Marine Stewardship Council logo. John West also states that they do not sell endangered or critically endangered species from the International Union Conservation of Nature Red List, have never sold blue fin tuna, which is the subject of numerous campaigns from Non-Governmental Organizations due to its endangered status from overfishing, that all seafood products are caught in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and are not bought from IUU (Illegal, Unreported, Unregulated) vessels, neither does it buy any fish that has been transshipped at sea, caught by long-line fishing or drift nets, caught by boats from any flag state which is not a member of