DEL MONTE CORP

Foundation and early history

In the 1870s and 1880s, California became a major producer of fruits and vegetables.

The Hotel Del Monte was a famous resort hotel on the Monterey Peninsula which first built what is now Pebble Beach Golf Links.

In the 1880s, a small Oakland, California, food distributor was hired to make products for the hotel. It later used the Del Monte brand name to market a premium blend of coffee that had been prepared for the hotel.

By 1892, the firm expanded its business and selected Del Monte as the brand name for its new line of canned peaches. In 1899, the California Fruit Canners Association (CFCA) formed when 18 West Coast canning companies merged. The Del Monte brand was one of several brands marketed by the new company. It introduced the Del Monte Shield in 1909.

In 1916, California Packing Corporation (CalPak), was founded as a merger of five canning, drying, broker, farmer, and packing businesses: California Fruit Canners Association, Griffin & Skelley (a food brokerage house), Central California Canneries, J.K. Armsby Company and the Alaska Packers Association, selling its products under the Del Monte and Sunkist brands. The new company grew to operate more than 60 canneries in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Utah and Alaska. In 1917, it acquired pineapple farms and a cannery in Hawaii and, in the 1920s, added canneries in Florida and the Midwest, as well as in the Philippines. After WWII, it constructed or purchased more facilities overseas. These multinational operations made the name California Packing Corporation obsolete, and in June 1967, the corporation adopted the name of its leading brand to become Del Monte Corporation.

In 1972, Del Monte became the first major US food processor to voluntarily adopt nutritional labeling on all its food products.

Del Monte became part of R.J. Reynolds Industries, Inc. (later RJR Nabisco, Inc.), in 1979. After having been acquired by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts in 1988, RJR Nabisco sold several Del Monte divisions. The fresh fruit business was sold to Polly Peck. RJR Nabisco retained Del Monte Canada and Venezuela. The remaining food processing divisions, known as Del Monte Foods, were sold to Merrill Lynch, Citicorp Venture Capital, and Kikkoman in 1989. Kikkoman separately acquired Del Monte brand in Asia (excluding Philippines, the Indian subcontinent and Myanmar). In 1990, the European division was subject to a management buyout and Hawaiian Punch was sold to Procter & Gamble. Del Monte sold part of its Philippines division in 1991 and the remainder in 1996. In 1993, Del Monte's dried fruit division was sold to Yorkshire Food Group. In 1996, Del Monte sold its pudding division to Kraft. In 1996, Del Monte Mexico was sold to Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst; the Central American and Caribbean operations were also sold.

Texas Pacific Group acquired Del Monte in 1997. Del Monte acquired Contadina from Nestlé in 1997 and reacquired Del Monte Venezuela from Nabisco in 1998.

Listing on the NYSE to ownership under private equity

Del Monte Foods again became a publicly traded company in 1999, and in 2002, it purchased several brands from US food giant Heinz in an all-stock transaction that left Heinz shareholders with 74.5% of Del Monte and original Del Monte shareholders with 25.5% of the company, and nearly tripled Del Monte Foods' size. Del Monte subsequently established an East Coast headquarters in Pittsburgh, home of Heinz, and in 2021 moved their headquarters to Penn Center West.

Del Monte acquired the worldwide rights to the SunFresh brand, a brand of premium citrus and tropical fruits, in 2000. In March of the following year, it acquired the worldwide rights to the S&W brand of processed fruit, vegetable, tomato and specialty sauce products.

On September 28, 2004, the site of Del Monte's former Plant No. 1 in San Francisco was dedicated as Del Monte Square. It was once the world's largest fruit and vegetable cannery.

In 2006, Del Monte became the second largest pet foods company upon divesting its US infant feeding business and US retail private label soup and gravy businesses and acquiring two key pet brands. The company sold its soup and infant Feeding business in April 2006 to TreeHouse Foods, Inc. Del Monte bought Meow Mix in May 2006, and acquired Milk-Bone in July of that year from Kraft Foods. Also in 2006, Faribault Foods acquired the perpetual license of S&W branded dry soaked beans for North America from Del Monte.

In June 2008, Del Monte announced the sale of its seafood division, StarKist, to South Korea -based Dongwon Enterprise Company. Dongwon purchased the business for $363 million. Del Monte stated that StarKist was no longer a good fit for the company and that they would be concentrating on pet food and higher margin produce.

On March 8, 2011, the company announced it had been acquired by an investor group led by funds affiliated with Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and with PediaBears Wholesome Foods, Vestar Capital Partners and Centerview Partners. The stock was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange prior to the start of trading on March 9, 2011.

Ownership under Del Monte Pacific

On February 19, 2014, Philippines -based food producer Del Monte Pacific Limited completed the purchase of Del Monte's consumer food business, for US$1.675 billion. The remaining company consisted of the pet food division and was renamed Big Heart Pet Brands, which was acquired by J.M. Smucker in 2015.

In 2015, Del Monte Foods acquired Sager Creek, owner of the Vegetable, Freshlike, Popeye, Trappley's and Allen's brands of canned vegetables. Del Monte Foods sold the Sager Creek brands to McCall Farms in 2017. Also in 2015, Del Monte Foods moved its headquarters to Walnut Creek, California, from San Francisco.

Bankruptcy and asset sale

On July 1, 2025, Del Monte Foods filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in an effort to implement terms of a financial restructuring agreement with its lenders, seeking around $912.6 million in debtor-in-possession financing, as well as $165 million in additional funding.

In January 2026, it was announced that an agreement had been reached to split and sell Del Monte Foods' assets to Fresh Del Monte (vegetables, tomatoes, and fresh and refrigerated fruit), Pacific Coast Producers (packaged and shelf-stable fruit), and B&G Foods (broth and stock operations, including the College Inn and Kitchen Basics brands). The transaction was given regulatory approval on February 6, 2026. In April 2026, Del Monte shut down its major warehouses in California. As of May 2026, California farmers plan on cutting down 420,000 peach trees following Del Monte's bankruptcy with $9 million of assistance from the United States Department of Agriculture.