Labour Lens

Lacks transparency. Publishes some details, but doesn't show its workers are paid and treated fairly.

Last researched 23 October 2026 · 6 sources

Spanish canned tuna brand of the Jealsa group, based in Boiro, Galicia.

Until Rianxeira traces its fish and seafood to the boat or farm and has the conditions of the people who catch or farm it checked independently, it can't show that they are free and fairly paid.

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Why it's graded Lacks transparency

  • Not met: Meets 3 of 6 Good requirements.
  • Holds the grade back: It relies on fish and seafood that it can't trace to the boat or farm. That alone means a poor grade until it takes steps to trace it and check the conditions of the people who catch or farm it.
  • 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.

How grades are decided


Good requirements 3 of 6

  • Not met: Pays a living wage, or holds a strong fair-pay certificationLiving wage: no evidence
  • Met: Respects worker rights
  • 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 2

  • Red flag: No evidence it pays a living wage
  • Red flag: Relies on fish and seafood it can't trace to the boat or farm
  • 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 Jealsa Rianxeira S.A.U.'s supplier list, which covers Rianxeira and its sister brands. Rianxeira publishes no breakdown of its own, so the countries shown are the group's. The rest is shown as where fish and seafood are usually processed.

Where it's made, and conditions there
CountryWorker rightsLegal minimum wageForced labour risk
SpainStrong protectionsClose to a living wageLow
ThailandUsual for the industryNo guarantee of rightsBelow a living wageModerate
ChinaUsual for the industryNo guarantee of rightsBelow a living wageModerate
VietnamUsual for the industrySystematic violationsWell below a living wageModerate
IndonesiaUsual for the industryNo guarantee of rightsWell below a living wageModerate
IndiaUsual for the industryNo guarantee of rightsWell below a living wageHigh
AustraliaUsual for the industryStrong protectionsAbout a living wageLow
EcuadorUsual for the industryNo guarantee of rightsWell below a living wageModerate
NorwayUsual for the industryStrong protectionsAbout a living wageLow

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 Rianxeira is the main brand of Jealsa, which cans tuna at its own plants in Boiro and A Pobra do Caramiñal in Galicia, Spain, and also makes Mercadona's Hacendado tuna. The group has run a tuna plant on Guatemala's Pacific coast, operates in Brazil through Crusoe Foods, and has tuna vessels in the Atlantic. It is an ISSF member but publishes no vessel or supplier list, no modern slavery statement and no independent checks on crews of the boats that catch its tuna.

Sources and actions

Sources 6

Show all 6 sources
  1. Spanish cannery Jealsa denies it has let go crew of its tuna vessels in the Atlantic (Undercurrent News) · Feb 2024 report that Jealsa let go crew of its Atlantic tuna vessels Sant Yago Uno and Sant Yago Tres; Jealsa denies it
  2. Jealsa mejora sus resultados apoyado en las ventas en el exterior (Alimarket, Feb 2019) · search the archive · Plants in Barbanza (Galicia) and Boiro; Guatemala line; Crusoe Food in Brazil; Trans Antartic in Chile; 4,500 staff in 2018
  3. Jealsa impulsa los lomos de atún con los fondos Next Generation (Alimarket, Nov 2025) · search the archive · Main work centres in Boiro and A Pobra do Caramiñal; tuna loin capacity expansion
  4. Quién está detrás del exitoso atún de Mercadona (Directo al Paladar, Sept 2024) · search the archive · Jealsa about 4,000 workers; Rianxeira flagship brand; makes Mercadona tuna
  5. SFP welcomes new Spanish seafood partner (Sustainable Fisheries Partnership, 2017) · search the archive · Jealsa based in Boiro; operates tuna vessels in the Atlantic; ISSF member; Hacendado supplier
  6. El enclave atunero de Rianxeira en Guatemala, 2010 (Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala) · search the archive · Rianxeira Jealsa tuna processing plant on Guatemala's Pacific coast, fishing from Puerto Quetzal

Company details

Headquarters
Spain
Employees
About 4,000
Last researched
23 October 2026
Cite this page
Labour Lens, "Is Rianxeira ethical? Labour rating", https://www.labourlens.net/brand/rianxeira, last researched 23 October 2026, accessed [date].
Method
Researched with AI assistance against published rules. How we check · What Lacks transparency means

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