RAINCOAST TRADING REELED IN BY ST. JEAN’S
Effective January 1, 2013 Nanaimo-based St. Jean’s Cannery and Smokehouse will acquire Raincoast Trading, a premium sustainable canned seafood company located in Delta, B.C. This is an exciting announcement for both companies who have a long and progressive history together. St. Jean’s is the only tuna canning operation in Canada; once the acquisition is complete, Raincoast Trading will be the only local, sustainable seafood retail brand with a North America-wide grocer presence that has a tuna cannery.
“We have had a positive relationship with St. Jean’s for more than a decade,” said Raincoast Trading co-owner Mike Wick. “It is fitting that Raincoast is sold by one multi-generation B.C. fishing business family to another and represents the next stage of growth for Raincoast. The news has been well-received by employees on both sides and Raincoast employees will continue to represent the brand in a new office in Delta.”
Raincoast Trading has been canning seafood at St. Jean’s for more than 15 years and Raincoast eventually grew to become St. Jean’s largest commercial canning account. This acquisition means that St. Jean’s will acquire its largest commercial canning customer and maintain the canning business.
“We’re pleased to welcome Raincoast to our family,” said St. Jean’s President Gerard St. Jean. “We look forward to adding the brand to our product offerings and leveraging the established retail/grocer presence and marketing expertise of Raincoast. We’re also delighted that St. Jean’s will expand our sales team and office to the Lower Mainland.”
Raincoast’s Brand Manager Kim Stockburn added, “The acquisition increases opportunities for an extended product line at the broker and retail levels, which will allow us to build sales, capture new audiences and potentially expand into previously untapped market niches.”
While Raincoast company ownership will change, there are a number of things that will remain the same: North Delta Seafoods, the commercial fishing/wholesale seafood company that the Wick brothers co-own, will continue to supply fish to Raincoast Trading (employing the same local fishermen), the canneries for Raincoast Trading remains the same, key employees remain the same, brand names remain the same, all suppliers and vendors remain the same.
“We think this sale is a win-win all-around,” said Wick. “We’re really proud of our efforts to grow the Raincoast retail brand and are now ready to pass the torch. Our background and main strength has always been wholesale seafood sales, not retail. Going forward, we want to focus solely on wholesale seafood sales, which is what we believe we do best.”
About St. Jean’s
St. Jean’s Cannery and Smokehouse (www.stjeans.com) is a family business located in Nanaimo, B.C. that has been providing high-quality smoking, hand packing, and canning on the West Coast for 50 years. It is the largest cannery serving the B.C. sport fishing industry and the only cannery in Canada that processes tuna. Unlike other canneries, St. Jean’s uses special techniques to preserve the quality of the fish. Tuna is filleted off the bone and goes into each can raw where it is single-cooked to preserve the fish’s natural oils. Conventional tuna is typically double-cooked and packed in water.
About Raincoast Trading
Raincoast Trading (www.raincoasttrading.com) has been selling premium wild seafood products for more than 15 years. Based on the west coast of Canada in Delta, B.C., the company was founded by a fourth generation fishing family that is proud to offer consumers eco-friendly, gourmet canned seafood. It is the first Canadian packaged retail seafood company endorsed by the respected Ocean Wise™ conservation program as an environmentally-friendly seafood choice for retail grocers and consumers around the world. Raincoast Trading adheres to the highest sustainability standards when catching, processing and packaging its seafood. The company’s seafood is single-cooked and packed in natural fish oils, which results in a rich, dense flavour and loads of extra nutrition typically not found in most canned seafood products.