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Crown Prince

Crown Prince is a family-owned California seafood company founded in 1948 as Norwegian Fish Importers, renamed Crown Prince in 1985, known for one of the widest canned-sardine lineups in the US — brisling, skinless/boneless, oval-tomato, and flavored — sold under Crown Prince, Crown Prince Natural, and Ocean Prince labels.

At a glance

Notable facts

• Founded by Dutch-born Corneleus 'Case' Hoffman, who pivoted from an orange-juice business into importing Norwegian sardines and made his first major sale, to the Alpha Beta grocery chain, in 1947.
• Operated as 'Norwegian Fish Importers' until 1985, when the company renamed itself Crown Prince after its best-selling product line.
• Now run by the third generation of the Hoffman family (Dustan Hoffman as President), based in La Habra, California.
• Skinless & boneless sardines are sourced from Morocco and carry Friend of the Sea sustainable-seafood certification; brisling sardines under the Crown Prince Natural label are sourced from Scotland.
• Oval tomato-sauce sardines are sourced from Thailand (7.5 oz can) or Thailand/China (15 oz can), per product labeling.
• Many SKUs across the range are Non-GMO Project Verified, Certified Paleo, Keto Certified, gluten-free, and kosher.

Origin

Crown Prince began almost by accident. Corneleus "Case" Hoffman, a Dutch-born entrepreneur running an orange juice business in Southern California, was introduced to Norwegian sardines through a coworker's connection. He pivoted entirely into seafood, landed his first major account with the Alpha Beta grocery chain in 1947, and formally launched the company — as "Norwegian Fish Importers" — in 1948.

The company kept that name for nearly four decades, expanding its sourcing well beyond Norway, before renaming itself Crown Prince in 1985 after its best-known product line. Case's son Bob joined in 1968 and eventually took over day-to-day operations, and by the time Case retired in 1989 a third generation — granddaughter Dustan Hoffman, now President — was already involved. The family-run company, headquartered in La Habra, California, has since built out one of the broadest sardine lineups sold in the US: classic brisling in oil, mustard, and tomato; flavored Pilchard sardines from Morocco in hot sauce and green chilies; skinless-and-boneless fillets certified by Friend of the Sea; and large-format oval tomato cans sourced from Thailand and China — spanning three house brands, Crown Prince, Crown Prince Natural, and Ocean Prince.

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