Crown Prince History (In a Clamshell)

Every good food has a story. The story behind Crown Prince Seafood begins back in 1918, when founder Corneleus “Case” Anton Hoffman was born in Arnum, Holland. His family soon moved to California, where he grew up and started his first business—an orange juice company—with some friends shortly after WWII.

One of Case’s acquaintances, a native of Norway, offered Case and his business partners the opportunity to sell Norwegian-caught sardines in the United States. Juice and canned seafood didn’t pair particularly well, and the men eventually sold the orange juice company. But Case ran with the seafood business, and in 1948 Crown Prince (then called Norwegian Fish Importers) was born.

Our company today

For the first two decades of Crown Prince’s existence, Case did much of the work himself. The attention Case paid to quality and consistency paid off, and by the 1960s Crown Prince was selling seafood in nearby states and eventually across the country.

The business continued to grow slowly and carefully. Case’s son Bob got more and more involved and eventually took over as president, a journey that was repeated by Bob’s daughter Dustan, who leads Crown Prince today.

Since 1948, Crown Prince grew from a small business that Case Hoffman operated by himself to a nationally-recognized seafood provider whose products are sold in supermarkets across the U.S. and in Mexico.

So now you know the story behind the people who bring you your canned tuna, sardines and other tasty fish. Want to learn more? You can read a more detailed version of the company’s history on our About Crown Prince page. Thanks for reading our story!

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