John West was a Scotsman born in Linlithgow near Edinburgh in 1810. John West was a family man and had interests in Salmon and canning. John West set up his first cannery in Oregon, USA in 1868. His business was proving quite a success and he set high standards which have been followed consistently over the years.

Two Liverpool merchants T.L Pelling and C.H Stanley decided to import Salmon and purchased the rights to use the John West name in 1888.

In 1892, the first cans of John West branded Salmon arrived in the United Kingdom.

In the UK at the time, there were three companies related with canning, Pelling Stanley, R.B Green and Angus Watson. These three companies became associated with the first Lord Leverhulme. Lord Leverhulme was the founder of Lever Brothers which later became Unilever. Unilever later acquired all shares of these companies in 1963 and gave the company its name John West Foods Limited.

Branches of John West Foods were established in Australia in 1969 and Africa in 1974 and an export network was established which now trades to more than sixty countries.

In 1997, John West was acquired by H J Heinz, one of the world's largest grocery companies in the world.

Since 2006, John West is owned by M W Brands.