New CEO: “The Owner Of StarKist? The Samoan People”ff

Source: Samoa News

Some 500 new workers have been hired at StarKist Samoa, a cannery that the company’s new president and chief executive officer says is really owned by Samoan people who - in the last four decades - have built this plant which has provided employment for the territory as well as business profits for the owners over the years.

One of the big issues in the minds of local residents as well as local businesses dealing directly or indirectly with the canneries is whether the company is hiring more workers -providing new money into the economy - and whether they will remain in the territory amid the hike in minimum wages, and remain competitive in a very tough global tuna industry.

These and other issues were raised as part of a media interview session last week with In-Soo Cho, the new president and CEO of StarKist Co., visiting the territory for the first time. Also in attendance for the interview were StarKist Co. vice president of chain supply Pat Moody and StarKist Samoa general manager Brett Butler, who is the first Samoan to head the Satala-based cannery.

Although he has made Hawai’i his second home for over 20 years, Cho said this is his first personal trip to the territory and acknowledged he has met Samoans in Hawai’i. He also said that he is “very impressed with the Fa’aSamoa.”

“The hospitality and the respect and the smile of Samoan people is really something very impressive and I am very pleased to visit here,” said Cho during the media interview session at the StarKist Samoa main office. “It was a very positive week for me.”

Cho not only met with Gov. Togiola Tulafono, while in town, he also met with employees of the cannery as well as holding discussions with the company’s local management team.

“StarKist has been in American Samoa for 48 years,” said Cho, who joined the company more than four weeks ago. “I’ve told this to our employees and the governor as well - StarKist is more Samoan than anything else.”

“StarKist changed ownership over the years from one company to another with the latest, Dongwon [company],” he observed. “But if you really ask - who is the owner of StarKist? It is the Samoan people. It is where it [StarKist] belongs.”

“So my impression, is indeed, respectful to Samoan people who have built this plant and provided wonderful food for the American people and business profits for the owners who have run the company before,” he said.

“So, I come with my humble attitude of carrying this flag for the next several years and ensure that what you have built becomes stronger; And I hope I can leave a legacy [behind] that I have moved StarKist forward a little bit for the benefit of the Samoan people as well as our employees here... It’s their life,” said Cho. “It is our sincere hope that in the next 48 years we will be here and continue to do our work here.”

When asked about the issue of jobs at the cannery, Cho first pointed out that while others left the territory during difficult times for American Samoa, StarKist maintained its presence here.

Cho didn’t mention anyone by name, but in the midst of the crisis over the minimum wage increase and the global competitiveness of the tuna industry, Chicken of the Sea closed down its operations here and moved part of those operations to the U.S. mainland.

“We stayed. We worked with your people,” Cho reminded the media in a humble tone. “Of course, we had to cut some jobs in those difficult times... both of us bearing the pain. Now we are able to come and continue here. We’re not going to be the first ones to hop on the airplane and leave the island.”

“We’ll be here to work out any challenges that we have. And obviously that has to be a joint work - the people of [American] Samoa, company owners and the government of American Samoa,” he said. “So if all these three parties work together I’m sure there is no challenge that we cannot overcome.”

“We want to make American Samoa be more competitive than any other islands in the Pacific and for that matter any other country in the world,” he continued. “We want American Samoa to be more competitive than Thailand, Africa, or other countries that produce tuna.”

“It take some work. It will take some sacrifices, sometimes. But I’m sure we can achieve that goal.” he said.

As to the number of new jobs, Cho said StarKist has increased the local workforce by about 500 and this came after the company was able to secure special orders from its existing customers, who he declined to identify by name, due to the competitiveness of the industry.

Togiola told a U.S. Congressional committee in early March that StarKist is hiring workers to meet increased production “pursuant to a significant contract award.”

Cho said in the interview session that the local management team worked very hard in every effort to increase the number of employees and “we hope that we continue to maintain this number and even more, but it will depend on the continuing to provide competitive prices and our ability to continue to have these [special] orders from our customers on the mainland.”

Butler said that in January the cannery had a workforce of just under 1,500 and the current workforce is just around 2,000 workers.

“We think we can maintain this incremental 500 employment for the foreseeable future. Nonetheless we have some challenges to overcome,” said Cho, who points out that these “challenges are very clear”- which are no secret to the people of American Samoa - and they are “wages, which are a big component; increasing energy costs; and freezer capacity” - an issue the local management team is working on with the government.

He said these issues were also discussed with the governor, who had promised that everyone will work together on these three core issues.

“We will follow up. We will do our part. We feel that we’ve already done our part - we stayed here. [We] increased our employment and production and would like the American Samoa people and the government to deliver their promise so that we can continue to increase our business and continue to be competitive in the world market,” said Cho.