In 1973 Ralston Purina purchased the first commercial Draw/Redraw manufacturing lines along with end making equipment to manufacture cans and ends for their Chicken of the Sea tuna and Ralston pet food products.   The can division had a four line plant in San Diego, CA to supply tuna canneries in San Diego and American Samoa and a pet food plant in Iowa.   Another two line plant was established in Puerto Rico to supply a tuna cannery in the same location.  

In 1988 Ralston Purina sold Van Camp Seafood, Chicken of the Sea, along with the can manufacturing facility to PT Mantrust, a privately held company based in Indonesia.   With this transfer of ownership the Can Division was given a directive to sell excess capacity to the open market as opposed to only supplying divisions owned by Ralston Purina.

In 1992 PT Mantrust separated the Can Division from Van Camp Seafood and Van Can Company came into being. In 1995 Van Can shares were sold to Komodo Enterprises Inc. At the time of the separation, a supply contract which represented 85% of our sales was put in place.   Over a period of time we've expanded our customer base and reduced our reliance on tuna customers to about 40% of our sales.

In 2000, Van Can opened a plant in Lancaster, SC to better serve our customers in the Southeast and on the East Coast.   This move achieved its goal and allowed us to expand our customer base.

As of 2005 we have further reduced our reliance on the tuna industry and have expanded markets in the poultry, chaffing dish heat, and other niche markets.   We continue to look for opportunities in new markets to expand our sales base.