Del Monte Foods, Inc. (doing business as Del Monte Foods) is an American food production and distribution company headquartered in Walnut Creek, California. Del Monte Foods is one of the country's largest producers, distributors and marketer of branded processed food for the U.S. retail market, generating approximately $1.8 billion of annual sales. Its portfolio of brands includes Del Monte, S&W, Contadina, College Inn, Fruit Burst, Fruit Naturals, Orchard Select and SunFresh. Greg Longstreet is the current Chief Executive Officer of the Del Monte Foods. Several Del Monte products hold the number one or two market share position. The company also produces, distributes and markets private-label food. In 2014, Del Monte Foods, Inc. was acquired by Del Monte Pacific Limited in an acquisition deal that cost US$1.67 billion. The pet food division of Del Monte Foods, Inc. was not part of the deal and continued to operate as a separate company under the name Big Heart Pet Brands, Inc. The J.M. Smucker Company acquired Big Heart Pet Brands in 2015 for $5.8 billion. History In the 1870s and 1880s, California became a major producer of fruits and vegetables. The Hotel Del Monte was a famous resort hotel on the Monterey Peninsula which first built the now Pebble Beach Golf Links. 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. By 1892, the firm expanded its business and selected Del Monte as the brand name for its new line of canned peaches. In 1898, the California Fruit Canners Association (CFCA) formed when 18 West Coast canning companies merged. The Del Monte brand was one of several brands marketed by the new company. It introduced the Del Monte Shield in 1909. 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. The new company grew to operate more than 60 canneries in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Utah and Alaska. In 1917, it acquired pineapple farms and a cannery in Hawaii and, in the 1920s, added canneries in Florida and the Midwest, as well as in the Philippines. After WWII, it constructed or purchased more facilities overseas. These multinational operations