[6] Its portfolio of brands includes Del Monte, S&W, Contadina, College Inn, Kitchen Basics, Joyba, and Take Root.

[15] In the 1880s an Oakland, California foods distributor used the Del Monte name to market a premium blend of coffee that had been prepared for the hotel.

In 1898, the California Fruit Canners Association (CFCA) formed when 18 West Coast canning companies merged.

[18] Under the leadership of George Newell Armsby, in 1916, CFCA added Alaska Packers Association, Central California Canneries, two canners, and Griffin & Skelley, a food brokerage house, incorporating itself as California Packing Corporation, or Calpak, and began selling its products under the Del Monte and Sunkist brands.

After being acquired by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts in 1988, RJR Nabisco sold several Del Monte divisions.

Kikkoman separately acquired Del Monte brand in Asia (excluding Philippines, the Indian subcontinent and Myanmar).

In 1990, the European division was subject to a management buyout and Hawaiian Punch was sold to Procter & Gamble.

[18] In March of the following year, it acquired the worldwide rights to the S&W brand of processed fruit, vegetable, tomato and specialty sauce products.

Also in 2006, Faribault Foods acquired the perpetual license of S&W branded dry soaked beans for North America from Del Monte.

[41] In June 2008, Del Monte announced the sale of its seafood division, StarKist, to South Korea-based Dongwon Enterprise Company.

Del Monte stated that StarKist was no longer a good fit for the company and that they would be concentrating on pet food and higher margin produce.

[48] Also in 2015, Del Monte Foods moved its headquarters to Walnut Creek, California from San Francisco.

[50] Lotte Chilsung, a South Korean beverage company, partnered with Del Monte Juice Products in 1982.

Del Monte Pacific Limited (headquartered in Singapore) became the parent company and publicly traded in 1999.

In 2005, Macondray and Cirio sold their controlling stakes in Del Monte Pacific Limited to Philippine company NutriAsia, the maker of UFC, Mang Tomas, Datu Puti and Silver Swan.

[64] A 1953 Alcoa Aluminum advertisement featured a Del Monte Ketchup bottle with the caption "you mean a woman can open it?"

The ad, which is sometimes mistakenly attributed to Del Monte, has been seen as a symbol of casual sexism in the United States during the 1950s.

[67][failed verification] In January 2007, Del Monte Foods was accused of opposing efforts by the United States Congress to apply the continental minimum wage to the lower-paying tuna packing plants in American Samoa.

On January 16, 2007, Melissa Murphy Brown, spokesperson for Del Monte, stated that the application would "severely cripple the local economy."