California pear growers are heading into the 2026 season with stable market certainty, even as the industry continues to face long-term pressures from imports, shrinking acreage and processors closing.
A key development underpinning that stability is a move by Pacific Coast Producers to maintain processing volumes following its acquisition of Del Monte’s shelf-stable fruit assets. The decision will preserve a critical outlet for pears used in canned products, which account for a large share of the state’s crop, according to Chris Zanobini, executive director of the California Pear Advisory Board.
That stability follows a period of significant disruption. Del Monte Foods filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last year and subsequently shut down its Modesto fruit cannery after failing to find a buyer for the facility. The closure, finalized this month, marked the end of more than a century of fruit processing at the site and eliminated hundreds of full-time jobs, along with more than a thousand seasonal positions.
For growers, the loss was immediate. Del Monte had long been a cornerstone buyer for processed fruit, including pears, and its exit left many producers scrambling to find alternative markets for crops that are not easily diverted to fresh sales. Industry estimates suggested potential losses could reach hundreds of millions of dollars, with some growers considering orchard removals as contracts disappeared.
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“In recent years, Del Monte had contracted for nearly 40% of the pears used in canned products,” said Zanobini, in a statement. Maintaining that volume “will help keep the industry operating at sustainable levels and provide some certainty for growers heading into the season.”
The acquisition — approved through a court-supervised bankruptcy process — includes canned fruit inventory and rights to use the Del Monte and S&W brands for shelf-stable products. Company officials said in a statement that the deal is intended in part to “provide some needed relief to fruit growers disenfranchised by Del Monte’s bankruptcy” by expanding sourcing and processing capacity.
Processing demand is especially important in California, where roughly two-thirds of the pear crop is destined for canned fruit and other processed products. Pacific Coast’s expanded role is expected to help stabilize that segment after years of consolidation.
The outlook for the crop is also strong on the production side. Growers are anticipating an early and plentiful harvest, with picking expected to begin in late June — earlier than usual due to warm spring conditions that accelerated bloom.
That early timing could give California growers a marketing advantage, allowing them to supply fresh Bartlett pears ahead of competing domestic regions. Industry groups are pushing retailers to support that window by scaling back imports before the state’s harvest begins.
Yet imports remain a central challenge. Pear shipments from Argentina have surged in recent years, with volumes increasingly overlapping California’s narrow marketing season and putting pressure on prices.
Despite those headwinds, the industry has stabilized at a smaller scale. Today, roughly 60 pear-growing families remain in California, continuing a legacy that dates back more than a century.
