[November 12, 2014]

Chicken of the Sea® Basks in the Spirit of Giving

Why stop at 1 million bucks?

For 100-year-old Chicken of the Sea, the celebratory, six-month Centennial tour may be over, but the spirit of giving lives on. Fresh off its coast-to-coast Great American Gratitude Tour, where it split $1 million in donations among 100 community nonprofits, the iconic, San Diego-based seafood brand is continuing its charitable ways with two new Pay it Forward initiatives.

To continue the cycle of good beyond the Centennial Celebration, Chicken of the Sea is partnering with Feeding America to expand its donation to the Chicago-based hunger-relief organization to 1 million meals^* in 2014.

The brand also announced the establishment of the Chicken of the Sea Mermaid Legacy Fund, a permanent corporate initiative that allows the company to donate money, volunteer hours and other resources to a select number of nonprofit organizations in its hometown of San Diego and beyond on a longer-term, partnership basis.

In addition to Feeding America, inaugural Mermaid Legacy Fund partners include the Boys & Girls Club of Greater San Diego and other groups slated to be announced in 2015.

The dual announcement comes amid employee requests to continue the inspired cycle of good beyond the brand's 2014 celebration. Chicken of the Sea is currently tallying the results of its Great American Gratitude Tour, the highlight of its year-long 100 Years of Good Centennial Celebration. As a way of acknowledging Americans for making the brand a part of their lives for a century, Chicken of the Sea presented $10,000 checks to 100 nonprofits, charities, grassroots organizations and civic-minded individuals to empower them to continue their neighborhood work. (See attached list of Gratitude Award recipients.)

"We're one of the world's largest and best-known seafood providers - but this isn't about selling tuna," said Chicken of the Sea COO David Roszmann. "It's about thanking the country for our first 100 years and investing in our communities for the next century.

"Being able to donate $1 million to some truly inspiring grassroots organizations, and hearing their stories, opened our eyes to what's possible," Roszmann said. "Proving that the spirit of giving is indeed contagious, Chicken of the Sea employees rallied to continue the Pay it Forward spirit into 2015 and beyond. The Mermaid Legacy Fund and Feeding America partnership will allow us to expand upon the company-wide spirit of good we started back in 1914 and celebrated this year - but on a more permanent basis."

Chicken of the Sea brought its popular Mermaid mascot to life to personally host the tour, which gave seafood fans the chance to pose for photos, relive company history, receive free coupons and giveaways, and enter to win their own $10,000 Gratitude Award.

The donation to Feeding America is a continuation of Chicken of the Sea's ongoing relationship with the nationwide network of food banks, as evidenced by the presentation of $10,000 Gratitude Awards to Feeding America-affiliated food banks in Orlando, Chicago and others.

"Feeding America is pleased to align itself with Chicken of the Sea and work together to continue the giving spirit of its Centennial celebration," said Ian Hunter, new partnerships director at Feeding America. "As we end another Hunger Action Month this September, it is as important as ever to provide the resources and support needed by the clients we serve. This donation of 1 million meals will help provide hope to the kids and families who look to Feeding America for help."

Gratitude by the Numbers

According to Roszmann, the 100 Gratitude Award recipients spanned the country and spectrum of grassroots community work - from providing hospital beds in Phoenix and teen mentoring services in Atlanta to teaching inner-city children to swim in Detroit.

Here are some examples of what those $10,000 awards accomplished:

• 300 new educational toys for children undergoing medical treatment (Lekotek in Atlanta)
• 840 hours of community outreach and service funded for five job seekers (Volunteer Odyssey in Memphis)
• 3,390 Atlanta youth positively impacted by one-on-one mentoring relationships (Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Metro Atlanta)
• 5,000 dollars in scholarships for two families of fallen or disabled military members (Folds of Honor in Owasso, Okla.)
• 100,000 cigarette butts off the beach through a tobacco litter prevention program (Pacifica Beach Coalition in San Francisco)
• 350,000 hospital visits from caring physicians (Phoenix Children's Hospital)

About Feeding America

Feeding America is a nationwide network of 200 food banks that leads the fight against hunger in the United States. Together, we provide food to more than 46 million people through food pantries and meal programs in communities throughout America. Feeding America also supports programs that improve food security among the people we serve; educates the public about the problem of hunger; and advocates for legislation that protects people from going hungry. Individuals, charities, businesses and government all have a role in ending hunger. Donate. Volunteer. Advocate. Educate. Together we can solve hunger. Visit http://www.feedingamerica.org/. Find us on Facebook (News - Alert) at www.facebook.com/FeedingAmerica or follow us on Twitter (News - Alert) at www.twitter.com/FeedingAmerica.

About Chicken of the Sea

Chicken of the Sea (COS) celebrates its 100^th anniversary in 2014 as a leading provider of healthy, sustainable and delicious seafood, offering not only a robust product line but the recipes and meal-planning insights needed to inspire seafood lovers to greater culinary creativity and inspiration. The company provides tuna, salmon, clams, crab, oysters, shrimp, mackerel, kipper snacks and sardines in cans, cups and pouches as well as innovative new products consistent with seafood's growing status as a healthy "new" protein choice in America.

Headquartered in San Diego, COS sustainably sources its seafood products from around the world, and packages them at a state-of-the-art processing facility in Lyons, Ga., as well as at third-party facilities. The company is led by a team of industry veterans with more than 300 years of collective experience in the packaged seafood industry.

For information on Chicken of the Sea, including recipes, serving suggestions and nutritional and meal-planning insights as well as information on the latest new Chicken of the Sea products, go to www.chickenofthesea.com.

Follow the Mermaid on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ChickenoftheSea and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/COSMermaid.

*$1 = 10 meals secured by Feeding America on behalf of local food banks

BY THE NUMBERS

25
Families of Atlanta children with disabilities who can be taken off the waiting list for inclusion (Lekotek, Atlanta)

70
Houston children given a court-appointed special advocate for one month (Child Advocates)

100
Houston children given new beds (Houston Children's Charity)

100
Detroit inner-city children learned how to swim (Detroit Swims)

100
Summer days that two at-risk teens will have jobs in Oakland, Calif. (Mayor's Summer Job Program)

200
Meals for hungry Atlanta residents (Atlanta Community Food Bank)

300
New educational toys for Atlanta children undergoing medical treatment (Lekotek)

400
Dallas area families given 80 pounds of food each (City Square's Food on the Move Program)

549
Kids provided with the ability to attend Atlanta's Camp Kiwanis (Atlanta Boys & Girls Club)

840
Hours of community outreach and services received by five job seekers (Volunteer Odyssey, Memphis, Tenn.)

2,000
Cancer patients in Chicago matched with a similarly afflicted survivor to provide physical and emotional support during treatment (Imerman Angels)

3,390
Atlanta youth positively impacted by one-on-one mentoring relationships (Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Metro Atlanta)

3,547
Children provided with early development educational skills (Sheltering Arms of Atlanta)

5,000
Dollars in Scholarships for two families of fallen or disabled military members (Folds of Honor, Owasso, Okla.)

13,000
Meals provided to Des Moines, Iowa, senior citizens (Move the Food Program)

30,000
Meals provided to food-insecure Cincinnati residents (Freestore Food Bank)

32,000
Pounds of food given to 400 Dallas-area families (City Square's Food on the Move Program)

100,000
Lives affected by furthering brain tumor research (Southeastern Brain Tumor Foundation, Atlanta)

100,000
Cigarette butts prevented from being littered through funding a Tobacco Litter Prevention Program established in San Francisco (Pacifica Beach Coalition)

230,000
Under-served Northern California students benefiting from dental supplies (K to College, San Francisco)

300,000
Pounds of wood to build a residential job training center in Washington, D.C. (Our House)

350,000
Hospital visits from caring physicians (Phoenix Children's Hospital)

Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/multimedia/home/20141112005322/en/

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