**When the Canneries Go Dark**

Cal-Maine Foods, the largest egg producer in the United States, is buying certain assets of Van’s from Sara Lee Frozen Bakery, a portfolio company of Kohlberg. Financial terms were not disclosed. An egg giant building a prepared foods portfolio tells you where the puck is going.

Meanwhile in Central California, the mood is less expansion and more triage. After Del Monte Foods filed for bankruptcy last year, it closed its Modesto and Hughson canneries in April 2026. Hundreds of jobs were lost. Growers were left without processing options.

The fallout is brutal. Farmers plan to destroy around 420,000 peach trees. About 50,000 tonnes of peaches will come out of production. The USDA approved $9 million in aid to remove trees across roughly 3,000 acres before the 2026 harvest season. That cut could save growers about $30 million in projected losses. Even so, farmers could face an estimated $550 million revenue loss tied to the cannery closures.

Del Monte Foods sold its shelf-stable fruit business assets, excluding production assets, to Pacific Coast Producers, including rights to use the Del Monte and S&W brands for shelf-stable packaged fruit in the United States, Puerto Rico and Mexico.

Why it matters. Brands can move on paper. Production cannot. Cal-Maine is buying its way closer to the consumer. Peach growers are ripping out trees because the processing backbone disappeared. In CPG, owning the brand is powerful. Owning the plant might be survival.