Del Monte, 138-year old grocery store staple, files for bankruptcy

[CaughtInThe]

I doubt this helps the general environment much



"He said that the company has “faced challenges intensified by a dynamic macroeconomic environment,” notably consumers cutting back on their spending and a growing shift toward spending on private labels."

https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/02/food/del-monte-foods-bankruptcy

 

[CaughtInThe]

 

[daeler]

It probably has more to do with the fact that del monte uses crap ingredients and private labels generally are better for you and better tasting.

 

[Napoleon]

Del Monte has been operating at a loss for years and can’t do it anymore. Their reputation for human rights violations on their plantations doesn’t help.

 

[Chock Full o Nuts]

“Consumer preferences have shifted away from preservative-laden canned food in favor of healthier alternatives.”

Well, offer a better product.

 

[Helix]

I had some of their canned stuff a week or so ago. It was fine. The upside is that it would have probably been fine for another ten years or so.

 

[dmpi]

In last few decades the canned vegetable section in the grocery store has shrunk to 1/3 what it once was. Canned vegetables never tasted as good as fresh or frozen

 

[Craig234]

It probably has more to do with the fact that del monte uses crap ingredients and private labels generally are better for you and better tasting.

Evidence?

 

[Craig234]

I wonder if they're affected by the trump attacks on farmworkers.

 

[daeler]

Evidence?

I made a suggestion, if you have another go with that.

 

[Chock Full o Nuts]

I wonder if they're affected by the trump attacks on farmworkers.

They told you their reasoning for the situation they are in.

Del Monte said it secured $912.5 million in new funding that will allow the company to remain afloat during the sale process and will keep the company operating as normal as it enters the peak canning season.

So they don't anticipate a shortage of supply?

Del Monte “says that consumer demand has declined, causing it to incur increased costs related to surplus inventory that it has had to warehouse and attempt to move off shelves with increased promotional spending,”

It's their own doing. People are still buying fruits and veggies. Just not theirs for whatever reasons.

 

[Napoleon]

In last few decades the canned vegetable section in the grocery store has shrunk to 1/3 what it once was. Canned vegetables never tasted as good as fresh or frozen

I’ve always thought they were nasty and refuse to eat them with the exception of beans for chili.

 

[Tangmo]

So they don't anticipate a shortage of supply?

It's their own doing. People are still buying fruits and veggies. Just not theirs for whatever reasons.

Del Monte has a loan just shy of $1bn to meet all operations for the next 12 months to include the present peak canning season.

The company's problem that's nothing new actually is that "people" are buying ready-to-eat fresh produce, plant-based meal kits, or even premium organic canned lines with "more sustainable packaging."

Many moons ago when I was visiting in San Francisco for a month I went to their waterfront huge processing and canning plant that blew me away. Workers were transferring fresh fruits and veggies onto a conveyor belt into the 3rd floor of the brick plant that came out in cans on the other side -- that were loaded onto 18-wheelers that snaked out smartly when loaded up.

They had a store inside the main entrance where you could buy any of their products at half their listed price. I thought the better of trying to rent my own truck because, after all, I was only visiting in town. My flight back would have never got off the ground.

I used to live for DM canned peas but now I buy the private brand of sweet baby peas for my steaks. And buy a tastier private brand of creamed corn. Yet I sill live by DM canned peaches out of the fridge for the tasty fruit, the delicious syrup and to meet my body's demand for their massive hit of preservatives ha.

Wynn Dixie where I shopped down the road a bit closed in March after corporate sold out to a German food chain that's more like Dollar Store etc. There's still a WD a dozen miles up the highway that suits me just fine. I first found WD when I was in GA for 5 years before the turn of the century.