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.
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.
Photo courtesy of Del Monte Foods
The pears were as gorgeous as ever.
Our fun Del Monte group from left to right: Kelly, Julie, Ali, Robyn, Me and Gina.
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 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.
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.
We got to pick peaches right off the tree. I found this very amusing apparently 🙂
We had a lovely Barbecue style lunch back at the Del Monte cannery. Gorgeous fruited water and centerpieces were on each table.
Friends and a beautiful lunch!
A glimpse at some of our lunch.
After lunch, it was off to the tomato farm. These are bright Roma-style tomatoes that were just about ready.
Colorful tomatoes for acres and acres.
Photo courtesy of Del Monte Foods
Julie and I picking tomatoes to take home.
Photo courtesy of Del Monte Foods
Bloggers with the tomato farmers. Fun afternoon.
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.
Peach cobbler topped w/homemade peach ice cream & freshly whipped cream!
Peach cobbler!
I love fresh peach pie with homemade vanilla ice cream! YUMMY!
I love to make a balsamic fig and peach salad
Summer Spaghetti: Tomatoes, EVOO, garlic, fresh herbs, fresh lemon juice, parmigiano – no cooking, other than pasta – Toss and enjoy!
I love to make caprese salad and bruschetta.
Love a juicy peach cobbler.
I love to make a peach trifle!
I love peach cobbler
I love my tomatoes sliced with a little salt, or straight from the vine.
peach cobbler & a tomato sandwich…is that a recipe?
I’m a total sucker for anything peach or tomato, but if I have to choose one, I’m going with the grilled peach and Vidalia onion salad with buttermilk dressing that I make. It reminds me so much of my sister.
Just tweeted about this. Here’s the URL: https://twitter.com/ropesgirl/status/377609985728839680
loved seeing all of your IG photos too!
I love salsa or just a tomato salad!
Caprese for the tomatoes and Peach Smoothies for the peaches.
I love to make fresh salsa with roma tomatoes
My favorite peach recipe to make is Grilled Peaches over Arugula with Goat Cheese.
I love making Peach Cobbler.
Lots of garden tomatoes means delicious fresh homemade salsa in our house.
I love making peach crisp!
Peach crisp undoubtedly!
Peach-Strawberry Jam! Yummy!
I like making catfish on a bed of tomatoes.
Homegrown tomato on a thick BLT with homemade mayo
I love making peach cobbler with homemade vanilla ice cream
I love fresh beefsteak tomatoes with blue cheese, red onion, bacon and light vinaigrette drizzled over the top, with lots of black pepper.
pizza sauce!
My favorite way to eat peaches is right off the tree! I also love peach pie with peach ice cream! Yum!
For the peaches it would be peach sour cream pound cake! The tomatoes oh well there are so many, but a big pot of gravy and meatballls!!!
Fresh Tomato Bruschetta, Yummy!
Chicken enchiladas with fresh tomatoes!!
I love to make big batches of tomato sauce and freeze it for use in quick week night dinners. Much better than the jar
I guess my favorite tomatoe recipe would just be a good old yummy mater sandwich. Homemade bread slathered with Hellman’s mayo (gotta be Hellman’s).Topped with garden fresh tomatoe slices and the perfect amount of salt and pepper. I don’t think anything can beat that.
I only use Del Monte peaches for my pies and tomatoes for my sauces. YUM!
Home grown tomatoes make the best spaghetti sauce!Yum!
Looks like a fun time, Jenny! Have you seen the Del Monte green bean commercial recently? That is my high school friend, Barry Louis Polisar singing. He’s been writing childrens’ songs for 40 years and it has finally paid off. This song was also the opening song in the movie “Juno”. Now other songs that he had written are being used for movies. I’ve enjoyed seeing his career take off !!!!