Morning Star Tomatoes, a Woodland, Calif.-based tomato products processor, has purchased the Hanford, Calif., Del Monte Foods plant, according to a local news report. Morning Star processes approximately 40% of the state’s tomato production, the report said, supplying tomato paste and sauce to U.S. food customers.
Morning Star is owned by Chris Rufer, who was sourced for the news story, and operates three plants in California. Rufer told the news outlet that the company actually does not plan to use the facility and will instead look to attract another buyer. The facility would work for other types of food processing, he said, but is currently set up to process tomatoes — he also said that Del Monte was still seeking a company to do its canning.
Del Monte planned to close the plant and vacate it by June, opting not to process the 2025 tomato crop and put up the 670,000-sq.-ft. facility for sale. Morning Star’s Rufer said industry consolidation and downward pressure on the popularity of canned tomato products among 18- to 30-year-olds impacted the future of the facility.
