California peach growers have lost $550 million in contracts from food giant Del Monte when the 135-year-old company declared bankruptcy last year.
“Nobody wins in a situation like this. We’re all losing,” Sutter County supervisor and peach grower Karm Bains told the Sacramento Bee.
Canned peaches made by Del Monte Foods Co. sit on a shelf. Bloomberg via Getty Images
“Somebody might be hurting a little bit more than their neighbor, depending on the size and the scale of what you had. But it’s devastating. And we still don’t know what to expect.”
The bankruptcy upset a California peach industry reliant on large, long-term contracts with Del Monte
One Yuba County grower told the Bee that he would have to rip up his peach trees because no one bought his cannery, which was under a 20-year contract with Del Monte.
The grower, Sarb Johl, said no other companies offered such a sweet deal. Some buyers approached with offered short-term deals that wouldn’t take nearly the same amount of peaches that Del Monte would have.
“We were just getting into making some profits out of it, but, unfortunately, it’s gonna have to be removed,” Johl said.
The California Canning Peach Association estimated one processor offered deals for 24,000 tons of peaches, a third of what was delivered to Del Monte last year, according to the Bee.
Workers harvesting peaches.
“Two thirds of the growers are going to be, basically, just left out to dry,” Johl said.
Growers publicly mourned the company at an annual event for the California Canning Peach Association earlier this month.
“What we have witnessed over the last seven months is the death of an extended family member,” association president Rich Hudgins told the Bee.
“And we’re all feeling the loss. We’re all feeling it in different ways. But it’s real.”