YUBA CITY, CA (MPG) – Del Monte Foods’ bankruptcy reached a decisive point this month when a federal court approved the sale of most of the company’s assets to three buyers. The ruling confirmed that the company’s Modesto fruit cannery, the last Del Monte plant operating in California, will close because no buyer stepped forward to keep it open.
For Sutter County, the closure creates an immediate crisis for the region’s cling peach growers, who have supplied Del Monte for generations and now have no confirmed processor for the 2026 season.
“This bankruptcy is going to have serious impacts on our local agricultural community,” Sutter County Supervisor Karm Bains said during a recent board meeting. “For more than 140 years, Del Monte has been a cornerstone of American agriculture.”
Bains said Del Monte’s long presence helped define the region’s farming identity and tied the community to the industry. Sutter County growers harvested about 106,000 tons of clingstone peaches in 2024, generating a gross value of $66.4 million, according to the most recent crop report.
“Here in Sutter County, a major cannery and extensive peach orchards supported generations of workers and family farms,” Bains said.
The Feb. 9 court approval finalized three major transactions. Fresh Del Monte Produce will acquire Del Monte Foods’ vegetable, tomato and refrigerated fruit businesses, along with global ownership of the Del Monte brand. B&G Foods will take over the company’s broth and stock lines. Pacific Coast Producers will acquire rights to Del Monte’s shelf-stable fruit products in the United States, Puerto Rico and Mexico. None of the buyers agreed to purchase or operate the Modesto cannery. Industry analysts point to shifting consumer preferences away from traditional canned fruit to fresh, frozen and alternative packaging, along with rising labor, energy and transportation costs that have made large canning operations increasingly difficult to sustain.
Without the Modesto facility, more than 200 Sutter County peach-growing families have no confirmed processing home for their 2026 crop, officials said. Many growers say they cannot easily shift to other processors because of capacity limits, transportation costs or existing contracts. County officials said the loss of the cannery will also affect far more than growers. Local trucking companies, packing sheds, farm labor contractors and suppliers all depend on the seasonal movement of fruit into Modesto. Bains said the disruption will be felt across the region and will influence agricultural planning for years to come.
Sutter County is working with agricultural groups and industry partners to identify possible alternatives, Bains said. Discussions include short-term processing options and support for growers who may be forced to make difficult decisions about their orchards. With preparations for the 2026 harvest already underway, growers say the lack of a buyer leaves them facing the possibility of removing trees, a step officials warn would permanently alter Sutter County’s agricultural landscape and diminish one of the region’s signature crops.
“Our focus is on protecting family farms,” Bains said.
County officials stressed that time is short. Without a processor in place soon, they said the fallout could ripple through the local economy, affecting jobs, small businesses and the broader agricultural community,