with fresh del monte produce . del monte foods type subsidiary industry processed food founded 1886 headquarters 3003 oak road walnut creek california united states area served united states canada south america middle east and indian subcontinent key people nils lommerin 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 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 . nils lommerin 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 . in 2014 del monte foods inc. along with its brands del monte s & w contadina college inn fruit naturals orchard select and sunfresh 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 are under del monte foods inc. but was not part of the deal will continue to operate as a separate company under the name big heart pet brands inc. 6 7 contents 1 history 2 del monte foods worldwide 3 criticism and controversy 4 pop culture references 5 del monte foods products 5.1 consumer brands 6 images 7 see also 8 references 9 external links history edit 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 two more canners and a food brokerage house incorporated itself as california packing corporation or calpak and began marketing its products under the del monte brand . 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 . 10 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 . 11 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 . 12 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 . 13 14 del monte sold part of its philippines division in 1991 and the remainder in 1996 . 15 in 1993 del monte s dried fruit division was sold to yorkshire food group . 16 in 1996 del monte sold its pudding division to kraft . 17 in 1996 del monte mexico was sold to hicks muse tate & furst ; the central american and caribbean operations were also sold . 18 19 texas pacific group acquired del monte in 1997 . 20 del monte acquired contadina from nestl in 1997 and reacquired del monte venezuela from nabisco in 1998 . 21 22 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 . 23 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 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 . 24 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. 25 del monte bought meow mix in may 2006 26 and acquired milk bone in july of that year from kraft foods . 27 also in 2006 del monte sold the s & w bean line to faribault foods . 28 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 . 29 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 . 30 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 . 31 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 . 32 the remaining company consisted of the pet food division and was renamed big heart pet brands . 33 del monte foods worldwide edit del monte foods plant del monte foods pittsburgh headquarters . del monte shares the building with root sports pittsburgh and the headquarters of former del monte subsidy starkist tuna . the del monte nutriasia headquarters in bonifacio global city taguig city metro manila philippines del monte foods markets packaged food products under the del monte brand in the united states and south america . kikkoman acquired del monte asia in 1989 . the del monte brand in canada was retained by nabisco when the rest of the business was sold . nabisco merged with kraft in 2000 . in 2006 kraft sold del monte and other underperforming assets to sun capital partners and eg capital . 34 conagra foods acquired del monte canada in 2012 . 35 del monte s central american and caribbean operations were sold to local investors in 1996 . 19 del monte europe including african operations was subject to a management buyout in 1990 and renamed del monte international . cirio acquired del monte international in 2001 . 36 after cirio s bankruptcy del monte europe was acquired by fresh del monte produce . 37 del monte in india is produced by fieldfresh a joint venture of del monte pacific and bharti enterprises . 38 in 1996 del monte mexico was sold to hicks muse tate & furst . 18 it later became part of hicks muse holding international home foods which was acquired by conagra foods in 2000 . del monte sold stakes in del monte philippines to kikkoman and del monte international in 1991 . in 1996 del monte and kikkoman sold their stakes and del monte international and macondray & co. inc. owned by the lorenzo family became joint owners . del monte pacific became the parent company and became publicly traded in 1999 . cirio acquired del monte international in 2001 . in 2005 macondray and cirio sold their controlling stakes in del monte pacific to nutriasia maker of mang tomas and controlled by the campos family and san miguel corporation . 36 39 in 2014 del monte pacific acquired del monte foods . the del monte brand in south america was retained by nabisco when the rest of the business was sold . del monte foods reacquired del monte south america from nabisco in 1998 . 22 fresh del monte produce was created in 1989 when rjr nabisco sold the fresh fruit division of del monte foods to polly peck . 12 mohammed abu ghazaleh purchased fresh del monte in 1996 . 40 the company went public in 1997 . 41 del monte dried fruit was sold to yorkshire food group in 1993 . yorkshire s us division became premier valley foods . premier valley foods was sold to a group led by brent enterprises in 2003 . 42 criticism and controversy edit in 2001 del monte obtained a favorable judgment in the case del monte fresh produce co. v. dole food co. where the court held that dole foods had misappropriated del monte s trade secret when dole foods obtained del monte s specially bred pineapple through non legal means . in january 2007 del monte foods was accused of opposing efforts by the united states congress to apply the continental minimum wage to the lower paying tuna packing plants in american samoa . on january 16 2007 melissa murphy brown spokesperson for del monte stated that the application would severely cripple the local economy . she also stated that for over 50 years the federal department of labor has provided that wages in u.s. territories including american samoa be set by a federally appointed wage board following public hearings . 43 pop culture references edit del monte produced an advertising campaign in the 1980s with the catchphrase the man from del monte he says yes . the man from del monte was portrayed by british actor brian jackson . during the troubles in ireland the unionist political slogan ulster says no was mocked by nationalists who added ... and the man from del monte says yes . this was in response to the del monte advertising campaign at the time . in a related incident a gable wall in belfast was painted with a huge mural supporting rev ian paisley s ulster says no to sodomy campaign which opposed the legalisation of homosexual acts between consenting adults in northern ireland