The parent company's big debt load handicapped Del Monte, too, forcing it to sell cash cows such as the Hawaiian Punch and tropical-fruit lines and pudding and Mexican-food divisions. The company went through an ill-fated 1979 buyout by RJR Industries, which later became RJR Nabisco when the leveraged buyout firm Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co. The transaction gave Heinz a 75 percent controlling stake in Del Monte and significantly broadened Del Monte's brand portfolio, bolstering a turnaround already in progress. The most recent makeover happened with the $2.3 billion deal with Heinz in 2002. Even as Del Monte had been pared and parceled, its name remained one of the most recognized in the supermarket aisles.
Through the years, the company has been sliced, diced and repackaged more times than the fruits and vegetables it processes. It packages tomatoes in Hanford (Kings County) peaches and zucchini in Kingsburg (Fresno County) peas and corn in Sleepy Eye, Minn.
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processing plants, plus plants in American Samoa, Canada and Venezuela.
In the 1960s, the Cannery was scheduled for demolition when his father, Leonard Martin, decided to buy it and preserve it as a marketplace.ĭuring the decades when the Cannery languished, Del Monte Foods moved production elsewhere. About 2,000 Del Monte employees packed and crated peaches, tomatoes, sardines, salmon and other foods for shipment from the city's waterfront.īy the mid-1930s, vacuum-packing technology made the San Francisco cannery's hand-soldered tin operation obsolete, said Chris Martin, who manages the retail and office complex today.
1, known in the early 20th century as the largest food-processing plant of its kind. Long before the era of big-box discounters, San Francisco's Cannery was the site of Del Monte's Plant No. Wal-Mart accounts for about 25 percent of its business overall. Sales rose 2.4 percent to $626 million from $611 million last year, primarily because of price hikes.Ībout 90 percent of Del Monte's sales are in the United States, Wolford said. Net income was $8.5 million (4 cents per share), down from $14.3 million (7 cents) a year earlier. 1, Del Monte's profit fell 41 percent, hurt by the costs of integrating the Heinz brands, increased marketing expenses and higher-priced steel, fuel and commodities including corn and soybeans. Still, he would like to see Del Monte focus on its existing business before it goes shopping for more brands.įor the fiscal year that ended in May, Del Monte posted net income of $165 million on sales of $3.1 billion, in line with Wall Street forecasts, compared with net income of $133.5 million on sales of $2.1 billion the prior year.įor the quarter that ended Aug. Organizationally, (the acquisition) has been executed well," he said. "They've done a really good job of generating cash and paying down debt. Davidson & Co., credits Del Monte with managing its Heinz acquisitions skillfully. He declined to speculate on specific possible acquisitions. "We've got a lot of experience bringing brands onto the Del Monte platform," Wolford, 60, who is also Del Monte's chairman and president, said in an interview. Now it's time to consider acquisitions again, according to Del Monte Chief Executive Officer Richard Wolford. Heinz Co., including StarKist tuna, 9Lives cat food and Kibbles 'n Bits dog food. The growth followed Del Monte's 2002 acquisition of several well-known product lines from ketchup giant H.J. In the past two years, the San Francisco company has doubled in size after a long period of turmoil under several owners.
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