FILE: Packages of Del Monte Foods canned green beans are stacked at a Costco Wholesale store in San Diego on April 4, 2025.

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Del Monte Foods, the nearly 140-year-old canned food giant based in Walnut Creek, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and is seeking a buyer. 

Del Monte President and CEO Greg Longstreet said in a news release Tuesday that the California-based company had voluntarily filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey and was pursuing a “court-supervised sale process” that would “accelerate our turnaround.” According to the news release, operations at Del Monte are expected to continue without interruptions. 

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“While we have faced challenges intensified by a dynamic macroeconomic environment, Del Monte Foods has nourished families for nearly 140 years, and we remain committed to our mission of expanding access to nutritious, great-tasting food for all,” Longstreet said in the news release.

Longstreet continued by sharing that Del Monte had secured $912.5 million, as well as an additional $165 million, from lenders to help ease the sale process. The financial support will also “fund the Company’s ongoing operations in the ordinary course, including the Company’s pack season that is presently underway,” Longstreet added.

The bankruptcy filing comes less than a month after Del Monte announced plans to permanently close a facility and two warehouses in Yakima, Washington, Just Food reported. A total of 51 jobs will be impacted by closures, and layoffs are expected to begin in August, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification reviewed by the outlet. 

Del Monte got its start in 1886 and eventually built its first cannery in San Francisco in 1907. Two years later, it was considered the world’s largest fruit and vegetable cannery, according to its website.

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