555 Sardines
Lacks transparency. Publishes some details, but doesn't show its workers are paid and treated fairly.
Last researched 23 October 2026 · 8 sources
Philippine canned sardine and mackerel brand of Century Pacific Food.
555 Sardines can't show that the workers who make its products in the Philippines earn a living wage, which workers there are very unlikely to.
Also worth knowing
It has no full independent audit.
Other canned and pouched fish brands
Nothing we've rated in canned and pouched fish is better than Lacks transparency yet.
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Why it's graded Lacks transparency
- Not met: Meets 2 of 6 Good requirements.
- Holds the grade back: It has 3 red flags: no evidence of a living wage, unaudited production in high-risk countries and fish and seafood it can't trace to the boat or farm. Two or more red flags means a poor grade.
- It isn't Harm on record, because there's no serious confirmed problem on its record.
- Lacks transparency is still a poor grade: in supply chains like this, workers who can't be seen to be treated fairly are usually underpaid or unprotected.
Good requirements 2 of 6
- Not met: Pays a living wage, or holds a strong fair-pay certificationLiving wage: no evidence
- Not met: Respects worker rightsMost of its products are made in the Philippines, where unions are heavily restricted, and it has no full supply chain audit.
- Not met: Supply chain independently audited or certified, or at least 80% made in countries with strong labour standards
- Met: No child or forced labour findings or links
- Met: Names the factories or farms that make its products, or is fully certified by a scheme that holds and audits that listMakes its products in its own factories
- Not met: Traces its catch to the boat or farm and has crews' or farm workers' conditions checked independently
Red flags 3
- Red flag: No evidence it pays a living wage
- Red flag: Made mostly in countries with poor worker rights, without a full independent audit of its supply chain
- Red flag: Relies on fish and seafood it can't trace to the boat or farmShown to explain the grade. It isn't one of the 2 red flags that set it.
- Red flag: Fails its category's raw-material check (means Lacks transparency)
Stars it would earn as Good
None yet. Stars only show on Good companies. About stars
Where it's made
From 555 Sardines's own disclosure: it makes its products in its own factories.
| Country | Worker rights | Legal minimum wage | Forced labour risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Philippines | No guarantee of rights | Well below a living wage | Moderate |
Evidence
What we found
- Risk across the industry, not a finding about this company: fishing fleets and processing plants have some of the worst documented forced labour, including trafficked crews held at sea for years.
- Owns or runs its own production
- Relies on fish and seafood from fishing boats and farms, where crews and farm workers, often migrants recruited into debt, have been held for months or years, beaten and denied pay, out of reach of factory audits. It hasn't shown any steps to trace its fish and seafood to the boat or farm or have the conditions of the people who catch or farm it checked, so it's graded Lacks transparency until it does.
Research notes 555 sardines are purse-seine caught in the southern Philippines (FAO 71) and canned at Century Pacific's own plants in Zamboanga, including the former Ligo plant it bought in 2022; 555 mackerel is caught off New Zealand and Japan. Century Pacific supports the Philippine fishers' working conditions rule (DO 156-16) and says it avoids fishing companies reported for labour abuse, and it runs a smallholder sardine programme in Bulan, Sorsogon. It publishes no vessel list, holds no MSC or other certification for sardines and reports no independent checks of crews. Fishing grounds: FAO area 71 (sardines), 81 and 61 (mackerel).
What independent sources say
| Source | Result | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Business & Human Rights Resource Centre | Listed | In its 2020/21 Pacific canned tuna survey response covering 555, Century Pacific said it had adopted no new human rights due diligence process since 2019 and was still formalising a supplier code. View |
| US Department of Labor goods lists | Listed | The US Department of Labor lists seafood from the Philippines, Indonesia, Taiwan, China and Thailand as produced with child or forced labour. View |
Unconfirmed reports
Credible reports that haven't been confirmed by a regulator, completed investigation or the company. They're shown for your information and don't affect the grade.
- The Outlaw Ocean Project's plant database records that four construction workers were electrocuted in September 2021 while building a warehouse on Century Pacific's Zamboanga compound; no official finding or company response is given. Source
Sources and actions
Sources 8
Show all 8 sources
- Century Pacific response to BHRRC canned tuna survey (2020/21) · search the archive · Covers 555; no new human rights due diligence process since 2019; supplier code being formalised in 2020
- Century Pacific Food Inc. plant entry (Outlaw Ocean Project, Bait to Plate) · search the archive · September 2021 electrocution of four construction workers at the Zamboanga compound; 2024 effluent cease-and-desist order
- US Department of Labor fishing fact sheet · search the archive · Seafood from the Philippines listed as produced with child or forced labour
- Century buys Ligo assets to manufacture canned goods in Zamboanga (ABS-CBN, June 2022) · search the archive · Century Pacific bought the Ligo manufacturing facility in Zamboanga
- 555 Sardines In Tomato Sauce Hot 425g (Woolworths) · search the archive · Sold by Woolworths in Australia; made in the Philippines
Published by 555 Sardines or its owner
- Purchase Assessment: Tuna (Century Pacific Food) · search the archive · 555 sardines purse seine from South of Philippines (FAO 71); 555 mackerel from New Zealand and Japan; supports DO 156-16; avoids fishing companies linked to labour abuse
- Century Pacific highlights enhanced safety measures in its manufacturing facilities (2020) · search the archive · Tuna and sardine plants in General Santos and Zamboanga making Century Tuna and 555
- Century Pacific champions sustainable sardine fishing (2025 Tambuli Awards) · search the archive · Sardine business covers 555 and Ligo; Sustenido Bulan smallholder fisher programme in Sorsogon
Company details
- Owned by
- Century Pacific Food, Inc.
- Headquarters
- Philippines
- Last researched
- 23 October 2026
- Cite this page
- Labour Lens, "Is 555 Sardines ethical? Labour rating", https://www.labourlens.net/brand/555-sardines, last researched 23 October 2026, accessed [date].
- Method
- Researched with AI assistance against published rules. How we check · What Lacks transparency means
Something missing or wrong?
Grades are opinions based on the evidence listed here. Send us evidence, or a right of reply if you represent 555 Sardines.