Del Monte Farm and Cannery Tour

Had the best time visiting Del Monte farms and cannery in Modesto, CA last month. Had the privilege of meeting some of the Del Monte staff, their farmers along with touring the factory, peach and tomato farms with 5 other food bloggers from across the country. Del Monte delighted us with this refreshing Peach Sorbet to get our morning started.

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Photo courtesy of Del Monte Foods

What a treat to tour the cannery where many of Del Monte’s fruit products are packaged and prepared for the shelves. Here’s a shot of the canned peaches almost done.

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Photo courtesy of Del Monte Foods

The pears were as gorgeous as ever.

Del Monte Bloggers

 Our fun Del Monte group from left to right:  Kelly, Julie, Ali, Robyn, Me and Gina.

Del Monte Farm and Factory Tour-1 I learned that nearly 90% of Del Monte fruit and vegetables are grown in the United States, in the best growing regions for a consistently quality product. 100% of Del Monte’s canned peaches & tomatoes are grown in the United States. Del Monte Farm and Factory Tour-2

Del Monte picks their fruit, vegetables and tomatoes at the peak of ripeness, with the majority canned the same day they are picked to lock in nutrients and flavor. 98% of their canned fruit, vegetables and tomatoes are preservative free. According to Del Monte, fruits, vegetables, and tomatoes contain similar nutrients as fresh when prepared for the table. In some instances, such as peaches & tomatoes, the canned version may contain more antioxidants and vitamins than fresh as a result of the canning process.

Peach Farmers The peach farmers and their sweet dog Cosmo told us all about the dedication and hard work that goes into maintaining beautiful peaches for Del Monte.

Peaches and Jenn

We got to pick peaches right off the tree. I found this very amusing apparently 🙂

Lunch Decor

We had a lovely Barbecue style lunch back at the Del Monte cannery. Gorgeous fruited water and centerpieces were on each table.

 

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Friends and a beautiful lunch!

Lunch

A glimpse at some of our lunch.

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After lunch, it was off to the tomato farm. These are bright Roma-style tomatoes that were just about ready.

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Colorful tomatoes for acres and acres.

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Photo courtesy of Del Monte Foods

Julie and I picking tomatoes to take home.

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Photo courtesy of Del Monte Foods

Bloggers with the tomato farmers. Fun afternoon.

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What an absolute treat to meet these tomato farmers. They were some of the sweetest people I’ve ever met. So generous and kind. Many of Del Monte’s farmers are third generation partners with Del Monte Foods, especially in fruit where several families have grown fruit for Del Monte for more than 70 years. These vegetable & tomato growers have been with Del Monte on average thirty years. I enjoyed visiting the Del Monte cannery in Modesto. It gave me new insight about how our fruits and vegetables are brought to us. Their fruits, vegetables and tomatoes are grown in excellent soil and packed at the peak of ripeness. Del Monte has been accomplishing this for over 100 years.

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334 Responses
  1. Pam

    I just made a peach-raspberry crisp last night — it was pretty darn good! That would be my current favorite…

  2. AnnMarie

    It’s hard to pick, but I do love peach pie. And peach jam. Peach ice cream. It’s hard to stop……

  3. q

    Whole Green Beans – even cold from the can!

    Del Monte has been on my shelves for the 72 years of my life. I’m a canned good fan and not afraid to admit it. I have an embarrassment of riches facing me when I’m ready to cook.

    My favorite recipe would be the three ingredient “Simple Tomato Sauce” if I had to pick a real recipe. Del Monte and I made it just last night!

  4. Laurel H

    That’s a tough question…either peach cobbler or a peach custard pie recipe i got from my sister. Although…someone just said peach ice cream. That’s right up there too!

  5. Ani

    My favorite tomato recipe is making a wrap with tomatoes, French feta (Valbreso), and mint (or basil – whatever’s growing in the garden).

    Thanks for the opportunity!

  6. Candy

    Every year we can our own salsa recipe using heirloom tomatoes. They’re so sweet they add a different level of flavor to the salsa. We have friends who request jars each year!

    Two years ago my husband tried peach salsa at a restaurant and came home dying to make some of our own. Without having a recipe we decided to play around with our tomato version and just substituted peaches for half the salsa and cut out the cumin. Thus was born my husbands FAVORITE peach salsa (with tomatoes too). He loves it and eats a jar per week! 🙂

  7. Leslie Kiley

    I tweeted about this sweepstakes @ //twitter.com/gypsyscrapper/status/377450191403503617

  8. Leslie Kiley

    I make a wonderful peach Galette! It was a bottom layer of almond paste and is quick and east

  9. Kim Button

    The Del Monte peaches and tomatoes look amazing! We just canned 56 qts of peaches, froze several pints for smoothies, and made, for the first time, Peach Chutney! That is our new favorite recipe using peaches! So yummy, using onions from our garden, garlic, vinegar, jalapeno’s, etc. Every Christmas we make Chutney Cheese Balls for gifts and now we’ll have our own to use – can’t wait!

  10. Susan H.

    I love the easy peach cobbler recipe. 1 st butter in bottom of pan. 1 cup ea of sugar, flour, milk with a tsp. of vanilla mixed and poured over the butter. Then peaches poured on top..without stirring. Bake at 350 deg. till golden and bubbly. Great warm with vanilla ice cream. Thanks for chance to win.

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