Thai Union-owned Norwegian canned seafood producer King Oscar has appointed Lara Berman as its new Director of Marketing and Business Development in the US. She joins the brand from her previous role as Senior Brand Manager for Thai Union’s Chicken of the Sea (COS). King Oscar is well-known among American tuna consumers for its premium yellowfin products in jars.

Berman worked at Nestlé for five years from June 2015 to June 2020, and was the Associate Marketing Manager for Coffee Creamers when she resigned from the post. She joined as the Brand Manager for Genova Premium Tuna in June 2020 and was later promoted to Senior Brand Manager of COS in October 2022. “Can’t wait to make some moves with King Oscar Premium Seafood and the amazing team in the US and Bergen, Norway. Great things to come! Here is to many more exciting days and big wins ahead!” she posted on her LinkedIn. King Oscar has been a part of Thai Union Group since 2014.

The Philippine Coast Guard recently arrested 35 crew members from two purse seiners who were illegally fishing for tuna and other seafood near Magsaysay town in Palawan. The government has banned purse seining in these waters. The sailors were apprehended on the morning of April 11 from the vessels ‘F/V Spring Beauty’ and ‘F/V Lotus 02’ after receiving information from the Coast Guard Intelligence Group-Palawan. Both boats are not registered in the WCPFC registry.

The Philippines banned the usage of some fishing gears such as Danish seine gear, locally called ‘buli buli’ (since 2013), ‘pangulong’ which is a small purse seine, and ‘taksay,’ a small trawler to catch tuna and other seafood, due to environmental concerns and the impact on the livelihoods of small-scale fishermen. The Coast Guard handed over the crew and vessels to the Municipal Agriculture Office of Magsaysay, Palawan, for appropriate charges and disposition, but did not reveal which gear was used by the illegal fishers.

Dongwon F&B wants to get a bigger piece of the ‘tuna sauce’ pie. It has set up its own production facility and expanded the product lineup with a new flavor. The two existing items were given new names and the bottles were restyled. Tuna Liquid Jin and Tuna Liquid Premium (the latter is made from yellowfin) were already launched in 2022. Tuna Liquid Soon is a new flavor to which aged anchovy liquid has been added that reduces the smoky taste of the tuna extract.

According to Nielsen IQ Korea, the market for tuna sauces in the country is estimated to be worth KRW 53 billion (USD 38.96 million) based on last year’s retail sales figures. This is double that of the 2021 sales. Dongwon has put its 40 years of tuna-producing expertise into this segment and aims to expand in Korea and introduce new varieties in the future.