Del Monte Foods, Inc (trading as Del Monte Foods) is a North American food production and

distribution company headquartered at 3003 Oak Road, Walnut Creek, California, USA.[2] Del
Monte Foods is one of the country's largest producers, distributors and marketers of branded
processed food for the U.S. retail market, generating approximately $1.8 billion of annual sales.
Its portfolio of brands includes Del Monte, S&W, Contadina, College Inn, Fruit Burst, Fruit
Naturals, Orchard Select and SunFresh. Gregory Longstreet is the current Chief Executive Officer
of the Del Monte Foods.[3] Several Del Monte products hold the number one or two market share
position.[4] The company also produces, distributes and markets private-label food.

Del Monte Foods

Del Monte Foods Company Logo.svg
Type
Subsidiary
Industry
Processed food
Founded
1886
Headquarters
3003 Oak Road
Contra Costa Centre, California, United States
(Walnut Creek mailing address)
Area served
United States, Canada, Mexico, South America, Middle East, Philippines, Indian Subcontinent,
South East Asia, and Kenya
Key people
Gregory Longstreet (CEO)
Products
Canned fruit, canned vegetables, broth, sauce, fruit cups, and others.
Owner
Del Monte Pacific Limited[1]
Number of employees
7,800 (FY 2015)
Website
www.delmontefoods.com
In 2014, Del Monte Foods, Inc. was acquired by the Filipino multinational food and beverage
company Del Monte Pacific Limited in an acquisition deal that cost US$1.67 billion.[5] Assets
that were under Del Monte Foods, Inc. but were not part of the deal, continued to operate as a
separate company under the name Big Heart Pet Brands, Inc.[6
In the 1870s and 1880s, California became a major producer of fruits and vegetables. In 1886, the
Del Monte name premiered, originally used in the 1880s by an Oakland, California, foods
distributor to designate a premium blend of coffee prepared for the Hotel Del Monte on the
Monterey Peninsula. By 1892, the Del Monte brand was introduced when the firm expanded its
business and selected Del Monte as the brand name for its new line of canned peaches. In 1898,
the California Fruit Canners Association (CFCA) formed when 18 West Coast canning companies
merged.[8] The Del Monte brand was one of several brands marketed by the new company. It
introduced the Del Monte Shield in 1909.[9]

Under the leadership of George Newell Armsby, in 1916 CFCA added Alaska Packers Association,
Central California Canneries, and Griffin & Skelley, two more canners and a food brokerage
house, incorporating itself as California Packing Corporation, or Calpak, and began marketing its
products under the Del Monte brand.[10][11][12] 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.[13] 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.
[14]

In 1972, Del Monte became the first major US food processor to voluntarily adopt nutritional
labeling on all its food products, an innovation that made headlines throughout the country and
applauded by government officials as a breakthrough in consumer education.

Del Monte became part of R.J. Reynolds Industries, Inc. (later RJR Nabisco, Inc.) in 1979. After
being acquired by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts in 1988, RJR Nabisco sold several Del Monte
divisions. The fresh fruit business was sold to Polly Peck.[15] 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 Capitol, 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.[16][17] Del Monte sold part of its Philippines division in
1991 and the remainder in 1996.[18] In 1993, Del Monte's dried fruit division was sold to
Yorkshire Food Group.[19] In 1996, Del Monte sold its pudding division to Kraft.[20] In 1996,
Del Monte Mexico was sold to Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst; the Central American and Caribbean
operations were also sold.[21][22]Texas Pacific Group acquired Del Monte in 1997.[23] Del
Monte acquired Contadina from Nestlé in 1997 and reacquired Del Monte Venezuela from
Nabisco in 1998.[24][25] 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.[26] Del Monte subsequently established
an East Coast headquarters in Pittsburgh, home of Heinz, in a building which sits on a portion of
the site of Three Rivers Stadium.
Del Monte Foods plant
Del Monte acquired the worldwide rights to the SunFresh brand, a brand of premium citrus and
tropical fruits, in 2000.[9] 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.[27]

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.[28] Del Monte bought Meow Mix in May 2006,[29] and acquired Milk-Bone in July
of that year from Kraft Foods.[30] Also in 2006, Del Monte sold the S&W bean line to Faribault
Foods.[31]

As precautionary measure, in 2007 Del Monte declared a voluntarily recall of several of brands of
its pet foods due to the 2007 pet food recalls.[32]

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.[33]

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.[34]

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.[35] The remaining
company consisted of the pet food division and was renamed Big Heart Pet Brands.[36]

In 2015, Del Monte Foods acquired Sager Creek, owner of the Veg-all, Freshlike, Popeye,
Trappley’s and Allen’s brands of canned vegetables.[37] Also in 2015, Del Monte Foods moved its
headquarters to Contra Costa Centre, California from San Francisco.[38]

formss
DELM is an investment holding company with subsidiaries that are principally engaged in
growing, processing, developing, manufacturing, distributing, marketing, and selling packaged
fruits and vegetables, canned fished and fresh pineapple, pineapple concentrate, tropical mixed
fruit, tomato-based products, broth and certain other food products mainly under the brand names
of "Del Monte", "S&W", "Contadina", "College Inn" and other brands.

The Company's subsidiaries include wholly-owned companies: Del Monte Pacific Resources
Limited; DMPL India Pte Ltd; DMPL Management Services Pte Ltd; GTL Limited; and S&W
Fine Foods International Limited. DMPL also has one 89.43%-owned company, DMPL Foods
Limited.