Del Monte to sell consumer products and focus on pet foods

Del Monte Foods said it would sell its canned food operation to a foreign relative, Del Monte Pacific, for $1.68 billion. Del Monte Pacific already sells Del Monte brand products with most of its business in India and the Philippines, The New York Times reported Friday. Del Monte Foods, bought by investors including Kohlberg Kravis Roberts in 2011, can now concentrate on pet foods, which accounts for about half of its revenue, the Times said. Del Monte Foods sells Mew Mix and Kibbles 'n Bits brands. Del Monte Pacific, for its part, can now extend itself to include the United States in a business it already knows well. "We believe DMPL is the right company to build on the Consumer Products segment's recent success and achieve its next phase of growth, and we look forward to focusing on expanding our pet products business, which operates in one of the most attractive categories across the U.S. consumer packaged goods industry," said Dave West, the chief executive of Del Monte Foods, in a statement. Del Monte Foods, a company that was created in the 1880s as a food distributor in California, said it would change its name to something more appropriate for a pet food company.