Sardines
Beach Cliff
Beach Cliff is a budget-tier canned sardine brand owned by Bumble Bee Foods, historically packed at the Stinson Canning cannery in Prospect Harbor, Maine — the last sardine cannery in the United States, which closed in 2010.
At a glance
| Country | USA |
|---|---|
| Region | Maine |
| City | Prospect Harbor |
| Founded | 1968 1968 is when the Beach Cliff brand name was first used, per a Working Waterfront Maine history of the Stinson Canning Company — not necessarily the founding of the underlying cannery operation, which dates to 1906 (as E.T. Russell & Co.) or 1927 (Stinson family acquisition). |
| Company | Subsidiary brand |
| Owner | Bumble Bee Foods, LLC (owned by Taiwan's FCF Co., Ltd. since 2020) |
| Price | $ |
Notable facts
- The Beach Cliff name traces to Stinson Canning's Prospect Harbor, Maine plant, where larger Danish-sourced fish began being packed under the Beach Cliff brand in 1968 (Working Waterfront archive).
- The Prospect Harbor cannery — by 2010 the last operating sardine cannery in the US — was closed by then-owner Bumble Bee Foods in April 2010, ending domestic sardine canning; the closure cost about 130 jobs.
- Beach Cliff, LLC is stated to be a subsidiary of Bumble Bee Foods on the brand's own site (beachcliff.info).
- Current Beach Cliff cans are labeled 'Product of Poland' on retail listings, confirming production has moved overseas since the Maine plant closed.
- Bumble Bee Foods itself was acquired out of bankruptcy by Taiwan's FCF Co., Ltd. in 2020.
Origin
Beach Cliff's story is really the story of Prospect Harbor, Maine — once home to the last operating sardine cannery in the United States. The plant traced back to E.T. Russell & Co. in 1906, was bought by the Stinson and Wass families in 1927, and unified as the Stinson Canning Company in 1975. In 1968, Stinson Jr. began sourcing larger, Denmark-caught fish and packing them under a new name: Beach Cliff.
The brand outlived the cannery. Connors Brothers bought the plant in 2000 (running it as "Stinson 2000"), and Bumble Bee Foods later took over, renaming it Stinson Seafood. Citing federal herring catch limits, Bumble Bee closed the Prospect Harbor plant in April 2010 — ending roughly a century of sardine canning on the Maine coast and costing the town about 130 jobs.
Beach Cliff survived as a Bumble Bee subsidiary brand, but production moved overseas; cans on shelves today are labeled "Product of Poland." It remains one of the most widely available, budget-priced sardine brands in American grocery stores, spanning oil, water, mustard, tomato, and hot-sauce variants — a low-price legacy of a fishery that no longer exists at home.
Products
Sardines in Tomato Sauce
Standard tomato-sauce can; product of Poland.
Where to buySardines in Mustard Sauce
The brand's most widely stocked SKU, common on Walmart/grocery shelves.
Where to buySardines in Soybean Oil
Plain oil-packed sardines, entry-level price point.
Where to buySardines in Soybean Oil with Hot Green Chilies
Chili-spiked oil-pack variant.
Where to buySardines in Water, No Salt Added
Low-sodium water-packed option.
Where to buy