The short answer
Del Monte was born American. The name comes from a luxury hotel in Monterey, California, and was first used around 1886 on a coffee blend. But Del Monte’s Philippine business, which started in Bukidnon in 1926, has been controlled since 2006 by the Campos family, the family behind NutriAsia (Datu Puti, Mang Tomas, UFC). In 2014 that Filipino-controlled company bought Del Monte’s American food business. That American business went bankrupt in 2025. Del Monte Philippines itself is still operating and still making money.
Here is a sentence that sounds wrong but is true: in 2014, a Filipino-controlled company bought Del Monte’s American business. The kid bought the parent. Eleven years later, that American business filed for bankruptcy, and the Filipino side is still cleaning up after it.
If you grew up with Del Monte fruit cocktail on the Noche Buena table and pineapple juice in the ref, you have probably wondered at some point whether Del Monte is even Filipino. This post answers that, plus the questions that came up after the US bankruptcy made the news here: who owns Del Monte Philippines, whether it is closing, and why it is selling things off.
Every number and date below is linked to where it came from. If you just want the gist, look for the ELI5 boxes.
Where Did Del Monte Come From?
What does “Del Monte” mean?
“Del Monte” is Spanish for “of the mountain” (Wikipedia). The brand is named after the Hotel Del Monte, a luxury resort that railroad tycoon Charles Crocker opened in Monterey, California, on June 3, 1880 (Wikipedia). The building still stands. It is now part of the US Naval Postgraduate School (NPS Dudley Knox Library).
Why did the hotel get that name in the first place? Honestly, nobody seems to have written it down. None of the hotel histories I read explain the choice. One thing people often get wrong: “Monterey” does not mean “king’s mountain.” A Spanish explorer, Sebastián Vizcaíno, named the harbor in 1602 after the Count of Monterrey, who was then the viceroy of New Spain (Wikipedia).
ELI5
Del Monte is named after a fancy hotel in California. The hotel’s name means “of the mountain” in Spanish. Why they picked it, nobody wrote down.
How did the Del Monte brand start?
It started with coffee. Around 1886, an Oakland food distributor made a premium coffee blend “prepared especially for the elegant Hotel Del Monte” and called it Del Monte (UtahRails). One of the people behind that blend, Frederick Tillman Jr., also ran the Oakland Preserving Company, which began putting the Del Monte name on its best canned fruit (FundingUniverse).
The name sounded premium, so it stuck, and it survived two big mergers:
| Year | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1880 | Hotel Del Monte opens in Monterey, California. |
| ~1886 | A “Del Monte” coffee blend is made for the hotel’s guests. |
| 1899 | 18 canneries, including Oakland Preserving, merge into the California Fruit Canners Association, roughly half of California’s canning industry. Del Monte becomes its premium label. |
| 1916 | A bigger merger creates the California Packing Corporation (“Calpak”), with 71 plants. Its rule: one premium label for everything, and that label was Del Monte. |
| 1918 | Calpak runs its first national Del Monte ad, in the Saturday Evening Post. |
| 1932 | The Great Depression hits. Calpak posts “the worst losses in its history,” but survives. |
| 1967 | Calpak finally renames itself Del Monte Corporation, after its famous label. |
Source for the table: FundingUniverse, a company history based on the International Directory of Company Histories.
Is Del Monte an American brand?
By origin, yes. The brand was born in California, four decades before it came to the Philippines. But “Del Monte” today is not one company. The name is split across several unrelated businesses in different countries, and the one that sells Del Monte in the Philippines is controlled by a Filipino family. More on that below.
How Did Del Monte End Up in the Philippines?
Why did Del Monte come to the Philippines?
Because of Hawaii. By the 1920s, Calpak was also growing and canning pineapples in Hawaii, and it became the first Hawaii pineapple company to set up a plantation abroad (Bartholomew, Hawkins & Lopez, HortScience, 2012).
Historians disagree on the exact reason. One historian suggests Hawaii simply ran out of land for expansion. A longtime manager at rival Libby, McNeill & Libby says the pineapple companies looked overseas because of mealybug wilt, a disease spread by tiny bugs that was wiping out whole fields. When the disease was brought under control, the other companies dropped their overseas plans. Only Calpak kept going (same paper).
The Philippines made sense for a simple reason: it was an American colony. Spain ceded the islands to the United States in 1898, and they stayed under US rule until independence on July 4, 1946 (US House of Representatives History). US laws passed in 1909 and 1913 had also opened up free trade between the two, so pineapples canned here could be shipped to America without import taxes (same source). No source I found says that was Calpak’s deciding reason, but it is the context that made a Philippine plantation possible.
ELI5
Del Monte’s pineapple farms in Hawaii were in trouble, either running out of room or getting hit by a bug disease. So the company went looking for a second Hawaii. The Philippines was an American colony back then, so what it grew here could be sold in America like it was grown at home.
Why is Del Monte in Bukidnon?
Because Bukidnon felt like Hawaii. Calpak started exploratory plantings in Mindanao in 1925 and eventually settled on a site in Bukidnon at about 600 meters above sea level, with a climate “similar to, but wetter than” its pineapple country in Wahiawa, Hawaii. The Hawaiian pineapple variety it brought over, Smooth Cayenne, grew well, and the fruit quality was comparable to Hawaii’s (Bartholomew et al., 2012).
The company’s own history lists the same reasons in four short lines: “Wide level highlands. Fertile soil. Cool climate. Outside the Typhoon Belt.” (Philpack company history)
- 1928: First commercial plantings, on 4,300 hectares leased from private owners (Philpack).
- 1930: A cannery in Bugo, on the coast near Cagayan de Oro, processes the first harvest (Bartholomew et al.).
- 1938: Another 8,200 hectares leased from the government’s National Development Company (Philpack).
- 1940: Production reaches 919,000 cases (Bartholomew et al.).
By 2013, Del Monte Philippines was running a 23,000-hectare pineapple plantation, which the company called the world’s largest fully integrated pineapple operation (Inquirer, 2013).
A fun coincidence: “Del Monte” means “of the mountain,” and “Bukidnon” means “highlander” or “mountain dweller” (Wikipedia). Nobody picked Bukidnon for the name, but it is a nice match.
When did Del Monte Philippines start?
Del Monte Philippines counts its birthday as January 11, 1926, when it was set up as the Philippine Packing Corporation, or “Philpack.” It celebrated its centennial on January 11, 2026 (Del Monte Pacific filing to the PSE). Its first president was Harry White, and its first plot was an experimental patch in Diklum, Bukidnon (Del Monte Philippines). Philpack’s own history credits an American named James McNeil “Neil” Crawford with leading the small scouting team that came over from Hawaii (Philpack).
One honest caveat: sources disagree on the early dates. The peer-reviewed history of Hawaii’s pineapple industry says exploratory plantings began in 1925 and that Calpak formally formed the company in 1928 (Bartholomew et al.). Either way, it happened in the mid-1920s. Philpack became Del Monte Philippines, Inc. in the late 1980s (Del Monte Philippines).
Did MacArthur really escape through a Del Monte plantation?
Yes. In September 1941, the US military built an airfield on a natural meadow inside the Del Monte pineapple plantation in Bukidnon. On March 16, 1942, General Douglas MacArthur and his family escaped the Philippines from that airfield, on B-17 bombers sent up from Australia. President Manuel Quezon left from the same field days later (Wikipedia: Del Monte Airfield).
The war shut the cannery down. Afterwards, the company restarted the farms by replanting the pineapple crowns that survived (Del Monte Philippines; Bartholomew et al.).
Did Hawaii try to stop Del Monte’s Philippine farms?
It did, and it almost worked. In 1941, Hawaii’s legislature passed a bill that would have banned exporting pineapple planting material that could be used to start plantations “in the Philippines or South America.” A board member of the rival Hawaiian Pineapple Company backed it because he saw foreign competition coming, started mainly by Calpak. Governor Poindexter killed the bill with a pocket veto (Bartholomew et al., 2012).
He was right to worry. The same paper says the stage for the decline of Hawaii’s pineapple industry was set when Del Monte started its Philippine company, and the Philippine operation’s expansion after World War II sped that decline up.
What Happened to the American Del Monte?
Why did a tobacco company own Del Monte?
Because smoking was getting a bad name. R.J. Reynolds, the tobacco giant, set up a committee in 1957 to study investing outside tobacco, and in 1964 the US Surgeon General issued a report linking smoking with lung cancer and heart disease (Company-Histories). Reynolds bought Hawaiian Punch in 1962, the shipping company Sea-Land in 1969 and Del Monte in 1979 (Wikipedia). The Del Monte deal was a merger worth $618 million (FundingUniverse).
It was not a smooth decade. Under Reynolds, Del Monte went through at least four reorganizations and a string of managers, and its longtime San Francisco headquarters moved to Miami (FundingUniverse). In 1985 Reynolds merged with Nabisco, and the combined company became RJR Nabisco (Wikipedia).
Why was Del Monte broken up in 1989?
Because of a loan, and not Del Monte’s own. In 1988, the investment firm KKR bought RJR Nabisco in a record $24.9 billion leveraged buyout, where “most of the cost of a purchase is borrowed” (UPI, 1989). It was the largest leveraged buyout in history at the time, and the story became the book and HBO movie Barbarians at the Gate (Wikipedia).
To pay down that debt, RJR Nabisco made a plan to cut $5.5 billion of it and started selling pieces of Del Monte (UPI):
- The fresh fruit business went to Britain’s Polly Peck for $875 million in cash, about 13 times its projected 1989 operating income. In other words, it was still expected to make money that year (UPI).
- The US canned food business went to an investor group that included Merrill Lynch, Citicorp Venture Capital and Kikkoman (Wikipedia). Reported prices differ, from $1.4 billion to $1.48 billion (FundingUniverse).
- The Philippine business went its own way. More on that in the ownership section.
ELI5
Wall Street bought Del Monte’s owner with a giant loan. To pay it back, they sold Del Monte in pieces. People had not stopped buying fruit. The owner just needed cash.
Are Fresh Del Monte and Del Monte Philippines the same company?
No, and this trips up a lot of people. The fresh fruit business that went to Polly Peck in 1989 became Fresh Del Monte, a separate American company headquartered in Coral Gables, Florida. It is the one behind the Pinkglow pink pineapples (Wikipedia). In January 2026 it bought part of the bankrupt US Del Monte business, including global ownership of the Del Monte brand, “subject to existing licensing arrangements across different regions and categories” (Fresh Del Monte), and then renamed itself Del Monte Corporation (Wikipedia).
The Del Monte you buy here is sold by Del Monte Pacific, which holds “exclusive rights to use the Del Monte trademark for packaged products in the Philippines, Indian subcontinent and Myanmar” (Del Monte Pacific). Del Monte Pacific says plainly that it is not affiliated with the other companies using the name (Del Monte Pacific):
| Company | What it sells under Del Monte | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Del Monte Pacific / Del Monte Philippines | Packaged food and drinks | Philippines, Indian subcontinent, Myanmar |
| Del Monte Corporation (formerly Fresh Del Monte) | Fresh fruit and vegetables worldwide, plus processed food in the US, Europe, Middle East and Africa | Global |
| Del Monte Asia / Kikkoman | Processed food | Asia Pacific, except the Philippines, Indian subcontinent and Myanmar |
| Sundrop Brands | Del Monte products, under an exclusive, perpetual licence | India |
| Others | Nortera and Lassonde (Canada), Del Monte Panamerican (Central America), Conagra (Mexico), Sunsweet (dried fruit, North America) | Various |
Sources: Del Monte Pacific; India licence from Bharti.
Who Owns Del Monte Philippines?
Is Del Monte a Filipino brand?
Half yes. The brand was born in California, and outside a few countries the name belongs to other companies. But the Del Monte business in the Philippines, from the Bukidnon plantation to the fruit cocktail on the shelf, is run by a company controlled by a Filipino family. So the fairest answer is: born American, raised in Bukidnon, Filipino-controlled today.
ELI5
The name came from California. The pineapples here come from Bukidnon. And the Del Monte you buy in the Philippines is controlled by the same family that makes your Datu Puti.
Who owns Del Monte Philippines now?
Del Monte Philippines, Inc. (DMPI) is wholly owned by Del Monte Pacific Limited (DMPL), a holding company incorporated in the British Virgin Islands and listed on both the Singapore and Philippine stock exchanges (DMPL filing).
Del Monte Pacific is about 71 percent owned by two companies, NutriAsia Pacific (61.55 percent) and Bluebell Group Holdings (9.76 percent), both beneficially owned by the Campos family of the Philippines (DMPL filing, December 2025). The family’s key figure is Joselito D. Campos Jr., who founded NutriAsia in 1990 and sits on Del Monte Pacific’s board (Wikipedia). The Campos family is also the family behind the pharmaceutical giant Unilab (Rappler).
NutriAsia is the company behind Datu Puti, Mang Tomas, UFC, Jufran and Silver Swan (Wikipedia). So yes, your banana ketchup and your fruit cocktail answer to the same family.
If you have seen the name Luis Alejandro connected to Del Monte, he was a hired executive, not an owner. He served as Group COO and President and retired in April 2026 (DMPL news and filings).
Is Del Monte Philippines owned by the Lorenzo family?
Not anymore. After the 1989 breakup, the Philippine business changed hands several times (Wikipedia):
- 1991: Del Monte sold stakes in Del Monte Philippines to Kikkoman and Del Monte International.
- 1996: Del Monte International and Macondray & Co., owned by the Lorenzo family, became joint owners.
- 1999: Del Monte Pacific Limited, based in Singapore, became the parent company and went public.
- 2005: The Lorenzo family and Italy’s Cirio Group sold their controlling stakes to NutriAsia.
So the Lorenzos were co-owners for about a decade, which is why their name still comes up. Their stake was sold in 2005.
How did the Campos family get control of Del Monte?
Through a deal struck in December 2005. A joint venture between NutriAsia (58 percent) and San Miguel Corporation (42 percent) bought the Lorenzo family’s 22 percent stake, then matched a $164 million offer from First Pacific for Cirio’s 40 percent. That triggered a mandatory offer for the rest of the shares, with the whole deal valued at about $420 million (Philstar, 2005). By January 2006, the venture held 84.52 percent of Del Monte Pacific (Philstar, 2006).
Today, Del Monte Pacific’s filings trace control of NutriAsia Pacific back to Campos family trusts (DMPL filing, December 2025).
The 2014 Bet: Why Did the Kid Buy the Parent?
Why did Del Monte Pacific buy Del Monte Foods?
In October 2013, Del Monte Pacific agreed to buy the consumer food business of the American company Del Monte Foods for $1.675 billion, including the Del Monte, Contadina, S&W and College Inn brands (Inquirer, 2013). The deal closed on February 18, 2014. The seller kept its pet food brands, like Meow Mix and Milk-Bone (Del Monte Foods press release, SEC).
Del Monte Pacific gave two reasons. First, access to America: “Prior to this acquisition, the U.S. was one of few key markets where our Company did not have a direct presence nor have its own brands,” said chairman Rolando Gapud. Second, the reunion: the deal “reunites a substantial portion of the Del Monte brand family” (Inquirer, 2013). Years later, COO Luis Alejandro put it more simply: “It was a reunion of sorts” (Rappler, 2017).
It was paid for with about $745 million of equity and about $930 million of long-term debt (Inquirer, 2013).
ELI5
The Philippine side wanted to sell in America and wanted the Del Monte family back together. So it bought the American food business, mostly with money it raised and money it borrowed.
Why did Del Monte Foods go bankrupt?
The trouble showed early. In 2016, sales at the US business fell 6 percent, and executives pointed to plant closures, shrinking private-label sales and shoppers moving from cans to other packaging (Rappler, 2017).
Del Monte Pacific’s own explanation, filed with the Philippine Stock Exchange, is that the US business “experienced sustained financial and operational difficulties driven by challenging US macroeconomic conditions, intense competition in the packaged food sector, and the debt load carried since the original acquisition” (DMPL filing).
In April 2025, as part of settling US litigation, Del Monte Pacific chose not to put in another $45 million, which diluted its control of the US business (same filing). In July 2025, the American company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy with $912.5 million in financing from its lenders. Its CEO, Greg Longstreet, called the filing “the most effective way to accelerate our turnaround,” at a time when US tariffs on steel and aluminum, used to make cans, had just doubled to 50 percent (ABC News).
ELI5
Americans were buying fewer canned goods, competition was tough, and the business was carrying a lot of debt from the 2014 deal. Then tariffs made the metal for cans more expensive. It could not keep up.
Who owns Del Monte Foods now?
Nobody owns it as one company anymore. In a court-supervised auction completed in January 2026, it was split between three buyers (Food Processing):
| Buyer | Price | What it got |
|---|---|---|
| Fresh Del Monte | $285 million | Vegetables, tomato products (Contadina), refrigerated fruit, Joyba drinks, and global ownership of the Del Monte brand |
| B&G Foods | $110 million | The broth business (College Inn, Kitchen Basics) |
| Pacific Coast Producers | Not disclosed in the report | Rights to sell shelf-stable Del Monte and S&W fruit in the US, Puerto Rico and Mexico |
Del Monte Pacific was not a debtor in the bankruptcy, did not buy anything in the auction and did not control its outcome (DMPL filing, January 2026).
How much did Del Monte Pacific lose in America?
Del Monte Pacific wrote off its entire investment in and receivables from the US business, about $703.5 million (DMPL filing), roughly ₱40 billion at the time (InsiderPH). It reported a net loss of $844 million for the year ended April 30, 2025 (InsiderPH).
Its auditor, SGV & Co. (Ernst & Young), issued a “disclaimer of opinion” on those accounts, meaning it could not get enough evidence to sign off on the US-related numbers (InsiderPH). The Philippine Stock Exchange suspended trading in the shares on September 16, 2025, and lifted the suspension on September 22 (BusinessWorld). The company says the disclaimer related only to the US operations (DMPL filing).
Is Del Monte Philippines in Trouble?
Is Del Monte Philippines closing?
No. Del Monte Philippines has not announced any closure. It is the profitable part of the group: in the three months from May to July 2026, it made ₱2.17 billion in profit, up 63 percent from a year earlier (DMPL Q1 FY2027 results). In its filing to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the company says Del Monte Philippines “is not in financial distress” and that the US bankruptcy is not expected to disrupt its operations (DMPL filing).
So where did the rumors come from? In 2025, posts claiming that Del Monte in Bukidnon was “signing off” circulated on social media. The closure that actually happened in the area was Agrinanas, a banana exporter in Talakag and Libona, Bukidnon, that filed for bankruptcy in August 2025, affecting around 5,000 workers and family members (Mindanao Daily News). That report does not connect it to Del Monte Philippines.
ELI5
The American Del Monte went bankrupt, not the Philippine one. Del Monte Philippines is still open and still making money. A different company in Bukidnon closed, and people mixed them up.
Is Del Monte Philippines bankrupt?
No. Only the former US business filed for bankruptcy. Del Monte Pacific says it never guaranteed that business’s loans (DMPL filing).
The parent company does have a real problem, though. Writing off the US business left a hole in its books. As of July 31, 2026, the group owed about $578.5 million more than everything it owns, roughly ₱35.5 billion. Because of that, it cannot pay dividends to its shareholders, even though it is profitable again. Its last dividend was in July 2023 (DMPL Q1 FY2027 results).
Management says it plainly: Del Monte Philippines’ performance, “by itself, is not sufficient to address the Group’s total liabilities of US$1.2bn or the negative equity at the DMPL level of US$579m” (same source).
ELI5
The kid is fine. It is the parent company that is in a hole, because of what it lost in America. Profits alone would take years to fill it.
Why is Del Monte selling its Sundrop shares?
To raise cash. Del Monte Pacific never owned Sundrop. It owned a minority stake, and it got that stake by giving up its India business.
Del Monte Pacific used to own 40.71 percent of Del Monte’s India business, a joint venture with India’s Bharti group (Just Food). In February 2025, Agro Tech Foods, the Indian company known for Sundrop cooking oil and ACT II popcorn, bought that business and paid in its own shares, then renamed itself Sundrop Brands (Inquirer; Bharti). That left Del Monte Pacific with about 14.39 percent of Sundrop Brands (DMPL filing). Sundrop now sells Del Monte in India under an exclusive, perpetual licence (Bharti).
Then it started selling, all at ₹715 per share:
| When | Stake sold | Buyer | Proceeds |
|---|---|---|---|
| December 2025 | 4.99% | CAG-Tech (Mauritius), Sundrop’s controlling shareholder | About $14.8 million |
| January 2026 | 1.45% | An independent third party | Not separately disclosed |
| June 2026 | 4.99% | CAG-Tech, through a put option | About $14.13 million (roughly ₱870 million) |
| Still held | About 3% | To be sold later |
Sources: DMPL filing, Dec 2025; Philstar, Jan 2026; DMPL filing, Jun 2026; the remaining 3% is from the CFO on the June 2026 earnings call.
Del Monte Pacific called the stake “non-core,” said it “exhibits declining value,” and saw the sale as “an opportunity to exit.” It even expected to book a net loss of about $5.4 million on the full sale, compared with what the shares were worth on its books. The money goes toward Del Monte Philippines’ working capital and debts (DMPL filing).
Sundrop is not the only thing sold. The company also sold the S&W trademark for $56 million (DMPL filing).
ELI5
Del Monte traded its India business for shares in a bigger Indian food company. Now it is selling those shares for cash, even at a small loss, because the parent company needs money.
What happens next for Del Monte?
Del Monte Pacific is now in restructuring talks with its main creditors and is “exploring the divestment of certain assets,” without naming which ones yet (DMPL Q1 FY2027 results). The plan it filed with the Philippine Stock Exchange has negotiations with lenders running from August to November 2026, then a full refinancing of Del Monte Philippines’ loans around July to August 2027, which the company calls “the fulcrum event at which all obligations are resolved” (DMPL filing).
Raising new money is also on the table. In October 2025, the company said it was considering raising $500 million to $600 million by selling new shares in Del Monte Philippines to select investors (Inquirer). But management has also said that “no equity raise, by itself, is expected to turn DMPL’s equity position to positive” (DMPL Q1 FY2027 results).
So, is Del Monte Filipino? It was born in California and raised in Bukidnon. And a hundred years after the first pineapples went into the ground there, the kid that bought the parent is the one cleaning up after it.
Sources
- Del Monte Pacific, Group Capital and Financial Recovery Plan, submitted to the PSE, June 1, 2026
- Del Monte Pacific, Q1 FY2027 results, September 9, 2026
- Del Monte Pacific, Sale of Sundrop Brands shares, December 17, 2025, and completion notice, June 5, 2026
- Del Monte Pacific, Chapter 11 auction disclosure, January 16, 2026
- Del Monte Pacific, At a glance, Other Del Monte companies and News and filings
- Del Monte Philippines, Our History
- Philpack company history, commercial plantings and The Philippine Frontier
- Bartholomew, Hawkins & Lopez, “Hawaii Pineapple: The Rise and Fall of an Industry”, HortScience 47(10), 2012
- FundingUniverse: History of Del Monte Foods and Company-Histories: R.J. Reynolds
- UtahRails: Del Monte history
- US House of Representatives, The Philippines, 1898 to 1946
- UPI, RJR Nabisco to sell Del Monte Tropical Fruit Co., September 7, 1989
- Inquirer: Del Monte Pacific acquires US food business (2013), Sundrop buy-in (2025), $600-M share offer (2025)
- Philstar: SMC, Campos team up to acquire Del Monte (2005), NutriAsia hikes stake to 84.5% (2006), Del Monte to sell more Sundrop shares (2026)
- Rappler, When Filipino firms expand abroad, it’s not always rosy, 2017
- InsiderPH, Del Monte hit by P40-B collapse of US unit; BusinessWorld, Del Monte trading resumes, 2025
- ABC News, Del Monte Foods files for Chapter 11, 2025; Food Processing, Bankrupt Del Monte Foods sold to three companies, 2026
- Fresh Del Monte, Successful bidder announcement; Bharti, Agro Tech completes Del Monte India acquisition; Just Food, Agro Tech becomes Sundrop Brands
- Investing.com, Del Monte Pacific Q4 FY2026 earnings call transcript
- Mindanao Daily News, Agrinanas files for bankruptcy, August 2025
- Del Monte Foods, 2014 sale press release (SEC)
- Wikipedia: Hotel Del Monte, Del Monte, Monterey, Monterey, Bukidnon, Del Monte Airfield, RJR Nabisco, R.J. Reynolds, Del Monte Foods, Fresh Del Monte, NutriAsia