Tuna’s Downfall Seen as Antitrust Warning to Chicken, Beef CEOs

The Justice Department’s antitrust probes of the nation’s leading beef and chicken producers will likely turn to its successful litigation playbook against tuna giant Bumble Bee Foods LLC.

Last December’s price-fixing conviction of Chief Executive Officer Chris Lischewski was based on troves of internal communications and documents that the DOJ used to paint a picture of collusion at Bumble Bee. Prosecutors also obtained early plea agreements with other executives and had them testify against Lischewski.

“You could see the investigative model being used in tuna and now poultry, being applied to meat,” said Vic Domen, an antitrust partner at Norton ...