Pumpui
Lacks transparency. Publishes some details, but doesn't show its workers are paid and treated fairly.
Last researched 23 October 2026 · 5 sources
Thai canned sardine, mackerel and clam brand of Kuang Pei San Food Products.
There's no proof Pumpui pays more than the legal minimum, which in Thailand is below a living wage, and it has no full independent audit.
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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 Thailand, 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 Pumpui's own disclosure: it makes its products in its own factories.
| Country | Worker rights | Legal minimum wage | Forced labour risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thailand | No guarantee of rights | 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 Pumpui (also sold as Pla Yim) is made by Kuang Pei San Food Products, a Thai listed company founded in 1979, at its own factory in Trang province, which employs about 1,000 of its 1,253 staff and makes 10 million cans a month; raw materials are sardines, mackerel, ark shell clams and chicken. It exports to over 20 countries, including Australia. It names no fish sources, vessels or certifications and reports no checks on crews or cannery workers, in a country the US lists for forced labour in seafood.
What independent sources say
| Source | Result | Details |
|---|---|---|
| US Department of Labor goods lists | Listed | The US Department of Labor lists seafood from Thailand as produced with child or forced labour. View |
Sources and actions
Sources 5
Show all 5 sources
- Seafood fact sheet: child labor and forced labor in seafood production (US Department of Labor, ILAB) · search the archive · Lists 20 countries or areas with documented child or forced labour in seafood production, including Thailand
- Pumpui and Pla Yim: 40 years of Thai canned food (Marketing Oops, June 2024) · search the archive · Kuang Pei San Food Products makes Pumpui; HQ and factory in Trang with 1,013 of 1,253 staff; 10 million cans a month; raw materials sardines, mackerel, clams, chicken; exports to 20+ countries incl. Australia
- Kuang Pei San Food Products PCL company profile (Thai SEC) · search the archive · Kuang Pei San Food Products is a listed company filing annual reports with the Thai SEC
- Pumpui at THAIFEX-Anuga Asia 2025 (Mitihoon, May 2025) · search the archive · Kuang Pei San sells under the Pumpui brand; plans export growth to ASEAN, Middle East and European Asian grocers
- Pumpui Sardines in Tomato Sauce 155 g (Lulu Hypermarket) · search the archive · Pumpui canned sardines sold at retail
Company details
- Headquarters
- Thailand
- Employees
- About 1,253
- Last researched
- 23 October 2026
- Cite this page
- Labour Lens, "Is Pumpui ethical? Labour rating", https://www.labourlens.net/brand/pumpui, last researched 23 October 2026, accessed [date].
- Method
- Researched with AI assistance against published rules. How we check · What Lacks transparency means
Other canned and pouched fish brands
Nothing we've rated in canned and pouched fish is better than Lacks transparency yet.
Something missing or wrong?
Grades are opinions based on the evidence listed here. Send us evidence, or a right of reply if you represent Pumpui.