We produce globally competitive food products in the safest way possible. The Company has comprehensive quality and food safety policies that ensure its products are of the highest quality and meet the strictest food safety standards.

The Company’s food safety policies ensure that consumers understand our commitment to providing food products that conform to food safety standards, and to regulatory requirements through a food safety management system. We require our toll manufacturers to adhere to the same commitment in delivering our products to market.

Our agro-industrial processes are accredited by the world’s leading food certifying bodies, Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) or British Retail Consortium (BRC), with 24 quality audits across our production facilities and toll manufacturers in the Philippines. The audits were performed during the year by reputable, independent international auditors, business partners and customers. Audit results confirm that our processes meet or exceed standards for the supply and export of food products to certain countries.

Del Monte Philippines’ Quality Policy is committed to Total Customer Satisfaction in providing food products that meet the highest global standards in quality, food safety, hygiene and service. Our operations in the Philippines have elevated the bar on quality manufacturing with its Food Safety Systems Certification (FSSC) from Société Générale de Surveillance Philippines in all our manufacturing facilities. The Toll Manufacturers’ Quality Management Programs plan includes FSSC 22000 certification for all our manufacturing facilities. This is to ensure that all Del Monte products, whether produced in-house or by our toll manufacturers, are safe and of highest quality.

The key requirement for marketing our products worldwide, GFSI and FSSC, incorporate key systems – International Standards Organization (ISO), Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP), Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standards - into a single system.

1. At our PET Plant, our plan is to improve the GMP quality scorecard by closing out gaps via a monthly technical meeting with the building lessor for structural deficiencies, monthly waste walk for building facilities to update corrections and check the building condition, and conduct personnel refresher courses.

2. Our PET Plant also plans to revitalize food safety trainings especially Hygienic Engineering and strengthen food safety management systems.

3. Del Monte in the Philippines regularly audits our toll manufacturers on compliance with our GMP, HACCP and Good Laboratory Practices (GLP) standards.

4. One of the major Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) of our toll manufacturers is the improvement of their Quality Scorecards year on year.
   
   
5. Our Toll Pack team strives to reduce consumer complaints by involving our toll manufacturers in the resolution of issues and improvement of our processes to eliminate sources of defects and potential complaints

Our Vision statement sums up what innovation is to Del Monte:

“We nourish families by providing delicious food and beverages that make eating healthfully effortless – anytime and anywhere. We build brands with quality products that are perfectly wholesome and thoughtfully prepared.”

Innovation is at the heart of being able to nourish families with delicious food and beverages. It is our hope that, by doing so, we are able to enrich lives every day. Significant strides have been made in introducing new, healthy, more convenient and environment-friendly products to consumers. We take a leadership role in meeting consumer preferences.

Consumers are becoming increasingly interested in learning about the ingredients in their food and are often looking for positive health properties of low-fat or low-sugar. This emphasis on health impacts and benefits has ongoing implications for product design and sourcing.

The Company is committed to product innovation in coming up with new and reformulated products based on consumer trends and changing preferences to healthy and nutritious food products.

1. In the Philippines, Del Monte Fit ‘n Right widened its product range by introducing the Del Monte Fit ‘n Right Active Isotonic Drink with L-Carnitine to replenish body fluids during exercise or intense workout as well as help reduce body fat.

2. Other products in the beverage portfolio include Del Monte Juice and Chews, a snack-in-a-drink combining nata and pineapple with fruit juice blends, a drink popular amongst teens.

3. The Company’s Nice Fruit joint venture in frozen pineapple successfully launched frozen pineapple spears in Japan last June. These are produced in Bukidnon, Philippines. Individually packaged and known as Pineapple Stick, it is available in about 70% of 7-Eleven outlets or about 14,000 stores in Japan. It is positioned as an on-the-go healthy snack placed in the store’s chiller section, and has received good feedback. With the Nice Fruit revolutionary technology, frozen pineapple, when thawed, has the same physical properties as fresh cut pineapple.

4. For the culinary portfolio, we launched the Contadina line consisting of olive oil, pasta, sauces and packaged tomatoes.

We are committed to health and nutrition and consumers trust our brands.  We actively work to ensure that our brands maintain this trust from one generation to the next. We encourage consumers to contact us with any concerns about our products. We always consider ways to improve our products and customer service. Consumers can be assured that their feedback will be shared with key decision makers.  

1. Our analysis shows that almost all of our products contain positive nutrients and majority are considered healthy. The Company will continue to improve to increase the number of its healthy products.
   
   
2. Our nutrition platforms are anchored on weight management, heart health and bone health which give support to the immune system and aid in healthy digestion.

Consumers today are increasingly concerned about the origins of their food. They want to understand the origin, safety, ingredients and sustainability of their products in simple language. Events relating to food contamination globally have raised consumer awareness and demand for better food quality and transparency, especially amongst millennials. In light of this, we aim to communicate with our consumers effectively to maintain their trust and ensure the quality and safety of our products.

Part of our commitment to ensure that our products are safe is having a robust traceability program in place for the Company. With globalization, our products reach more consumers. In order to protect consumers’ health, the traceability program allows us to quickly identify the origin of the product should an event arise - from its source and production to retailer. With this knowledge, we are equipped to handle consumer questions with confidence and in a timely manner. Having a reliable traceability program enables the Company to have an effective and efficient process to identify a defective product or component and to execute the recall process if warranted.

1. In the Philippines, our standards to trace the products to its production date complies with the standards of the British Retail Consortium.

2. The standard applies to both our own facilities and our toll manufacturers.
   
   
3. Traceability assessments are conducted during certification and customer audits of our facility as well as our toll manufacturers.

Our Company understands the need to have a packaging that protects our product, attracts consumers, is convenient to use, and strives to make a positive influence on the environment.

We believe more efforts need to be exerted to ensure we maintain the quality and safety of our products as well as regulate our environmental impact. It gives us double incentive to rework our product packaging in a more environment-friendly manner.

Our goal is to ensure the safety of our products as we nourish consumers, enrich lives, every day.  

1. In the Philippines, Del Monte has a convenient packaging for ketchups in Stand-up Pouches (SUP) with enclosable spout.

2. To make our products more accessible for consumers, we developed and introduced a low-cash outlay pack in SUP for our tomato and pineapple tidbits products.

3. Del Monte in the Philippines is 100% BPA-Non Intent for all packaging materials in the cannery and its toll packers.
   
   
4. We also innovated our packaging to make it more convenient for consumers.  Our juices now come in resealable one litre-cartons