The Bolton Group is an Italian conglomerate that sells products under more than fifty brands.

Overview

The Bolton Groups is a global conglomerate which sells products under more than 50 major brands, primarily consumer goods with a heavy focus on seafood. The majority of their business is food related. They are based in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. As of 2019, they had twelve factories and more than 44 offices.

History

The Bolton Group was founded by Joseph Nissim, a Greek-born Jewish immigrant to Italy. Joseph Nissim was born in 1919, to a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family and escaped

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

when the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

s invaded

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. After fleeing Greece he joined the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

and fought with distinction at the

battle of El Alamein There were two Battles of El Alamein in World War II, both fought in 1942. The battles occurred during the North African campaign in Egypt, in and around an area named after a railway stop called El Alamein. * First Battle of El Alamein: 1–27 ...

. He settled in Italy in 1949. He died at the age of 100 in 2019. In 2016, the Bolton Group had €1.96 billion in revenue and €210.8 million in profits. In 2018, Bolton announced that they were adopting a more progressive tuna sourcing policy.

Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by a group of Environmental movement, environmental activists. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth to nurture life in all its biod ...

had been critical of Bolton's sourcing practices. As a result of the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

epidemic, sales of the Bolton Group’s canned seafood products boomed in Europe in early

2020s The 2020s (pronounced "twenty-twenties" or "two thousand ndtwenties"; shortened to "the '20s" and also known as "The Twenties") is the current decade that began on 1 January 2020, and will end on 31 December 2029. The 2020s began with th ...

. They are a leading consolidator in the tuna and seafood industries.

Subsidiaries

Tri Marine

Tri Marine is one of the three largest global

tuna A tuna (: tunas or tuna) is a saltwater fish that belongs to the tribe Thunnini, a subgrouping of the Scombridae ( mackerel) family. The Thunnini comprise 15 species across five genera, the sizes of which vary greatly, ranging from the bul ...

traders along with FCF and

Itochu is a Japanese corporation based in Umeda, Kita-ku, Osaka and Aoyama, Minato, Tokyo, Aoyama, Minato, Tokyo. It is one of the largest Japanese ''sogo shosha'' (general trading and investment companies) distinguished by the strength of its textil ...

. Tri Marine is based in

Bellevue, Washington Bellevue ( ) is a city in the Eastside (King County, Washington), Eastside region of King County, Washington, United States, located across Lake Washington from Seattle. It is the third-largest city in the Seattle metropolitan area, and the f ...

and was founded in 1971. In 2019, Tri Marine was sold to the Bolton Group. Tri Marine has more than 5,000 employees and operates 16 purse-seiners. After the sale Tri Marine named Juan Corrales as the new CEO replacing Renato Curto who had held the position for 35 years.

Rio Mare

Rio Mare is an Italian seafood company which is now a Bolton Group brand/subsidiary. In 2017, Rio Mare launched a brand of organic tuna certified by the

Marine Stewardship Council The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) is a non-profit organisation which aims to set standards for sustainable fishing. Fisheries that wish to demonstrate they are well-managed and sustainable compared to the MSC's standards are assessed by a tea ...

. Rio Mare operates a factory in

Cermenate Cermenate (Brianzöö: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Como in the Italy, Italian region Lombardy, located about north of Milan and about south of Como. Cermenate borders the following municipalities: Bregnano, Cantù, Cari ...

Garavilla

In 2015, the Bolton Group acquired a majority stake in Spanish seafood company Garavilla from MCH and Investment Portfolio Dularra. Garavilla owns a factory in

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

Saupiquet

Saupiquet is a French seafood company. In 2019, they commissioned a new 67m seiner from the Piriou shipyard.

UHU

UHU is a German manufacturer of adhesive products. They were acquired by the Bolton Group in 1994.

Brands

* Palmera – Italian canned seafood * Saupiquet – French canned seafood * Isabel – Spanish and Ecuadorian canned seafood * Garavilla – Spanish seafood * Petreet – Pet food * Ocean Naturals – Seafood * Choice landing – Seafood * Simmenthal Canned meat

References

{{reflist Companies based in Milan Fish processing companies Multinational companies headquartered in Italy Conglomerate companies of Italy Multinational food companies Chemical companies of Italy Seafood companies of Europe Fishing in Italy Food and drink companies of Italy