A Kitchen Staple From My Childhood and Beyond Files for Bankruptcy

I don't know that anyone before or since purchased canned goods with the frequency that my mother did. That cabinet beneath the stove in the old house was voluminous, and that's where she kept them.

Del Monte

I'm not exaggerating. She'd buy the corn, the peas, the green beans, the whatever, and place them in the front, shoving everything else to the back. When Mom and Dad moved in 1996, there were still cans down there from...well, I don't want to say. I thought they would have been swollen, but they weren't.

Now I hear that one of the most venerable canned good companies in the history of American business has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Del Monte Foods Bankruptcy

I'll have to admit that I do purchase quite a bit of frozen vegetables, but Del Monte, founded 139 years ago in 1886, has so many varieties. And I'm not just talking about vegetables; I'm talking about many varieties of the same vegetable. I'm thinking of fiesta corn, cream-style corn, and shoepeg corn. Who knew there was so much different corn? Del Monte did, that's who.

With steel and aluminum tariffs doubling from 25% to 50% last month, Del Monte Foods, the parent company to a number of popular brands, hopes its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing will lead to new owners who will bolster its financial standing.

Contadina, Kitchen Basics, Take Root Organics, and S&W are just a few of the brands under the Del Monte umbrella. Del Monte Foods will continue daily operations until the new owner is in place.