StarKist says it plans to close its corporate headquarters on Pittsburgh’s North Shore next year.
Known for its packaged tuna, StarKist will be moving to Virginia in the Washington, D.C., metro area. The Pittsburgh headquarters will close March 31, 2022.
The company “will maintain a presence in the region,” the statement said, but it didn’t detail what that presence will be.
StarKist is a successor of the French Sardine Company of California, founded in 1917, that first marketed tuna under the StarKist brand in 1942. A decade later, the company changed its name to StarKist. It was acquired by the former H.J. Heinz Co. in 1963.
In the decades since, StarKist has had a presence in Pittsburgh. It was acquired by Del Monte Foods in 2002 and its headquarters was relocated to San Francisco for a time. But in 2008, StarKist was acquired by Dongwon Industries, a South Korean conglomerate, and its headquarters returned to Pittsburgh.
It has employed between 35 and 100 people locally since. The company didn’t say how many jobs will remain in Pittsburgh.
In 2018, the company pleaded guilty to a federal price-fixing charge after an investigation found broad collusion in the canned tuna industry that also involved StarKist competitors Bumble Bee and Chicken of the Sea.
Tuna sales have slumped in recent years, a phenomenon blamed on millennials who may not own a can opener.
The company says it pioneered pouches as alternatives to the ubiquitous cans to boost sales.
It has more than 1,000 employees worldwide and revenues of more than $500 million.
