“NURTURING the Nation: A Hundredfold Harvest” was unveiled last month by Del Monte Philippines Inc. (DMPI) on the occasion of its 100th anniversary. The coffee table book celebrates DMPI’s first century of nation-building through the manufacture of high-quality food and beverage products as well as its leadership in community development.
The 260-page commemorative publication showcases the milestones in DMPI’s history starting with its establishment on Jan. 11, 1926, as the Philippine Packing Corp., a subsidiary of the US-based California Packing Corp., which branded its products as Del Monte, meaning “from the mountain” in Spanish. Spearheaded by DMPI senior executives Ignacio Sison and Emmanuel Nisperos as project leads and contributing editors, the centennial book’s editorial content was provided by the multi-awarded Media Wise Communications Inc.
Sustainability is a core strategic pillar for DMPI, balancing environmental care, community empowerment and long-term business success. It emphasizes the reduction of environmental impact across its value chain — from farming, manufacturing to waste and energy use — while investing in social well-being.
Rather than positioning sustainability as a recent discovery, the Del Monte coffee table book frames it as an accumulated discipline refined over decades of operating in the same landscape, among the same communities and under demanding environmental realities. It reflects an understanding that modern agribusiness cannot afford linear practices in a country where land and water are finite and contested resources.
Equally significant is the scale and duration of DMPI’s land tenure in Northern Mindanao. The company operates some 30,000 hectares under long-term lease agreements with private landowners and cooperatives. This structure reinforces stewardship instead of ownership, involving a different discipline that requires patience since the land must remain productive not just for current operations but for eventual return.
Sustainability and continuity
In terms of sustainable agriculture, Del Monte’s plantation practices in Bukidnon province include soil conservation, efficient water sourcing, ecological land use and integrated pest management. Instead of pesticides, the company uses natural methods such as manure and black-light traps — thus earning it global certifications for good agricultural practices. It has achieved carbon-negative status for its pineapple operations through a combination of renewable energy projects, forest carbon sequestration, efficient power usage, reforestation using endemic species and biodiversity conservation.
At DMPI’s cannery in Cagayan de Oro City, it operates a waste-to-energy facility that converts organic wastewater into biogas generating 2.8 megawatts of electricity. This reduces reliance on the national grid, provides approximately 20 percent of its power supply and lowers carbon emissions while treating wastewater prior to discharge. It has undertaken waste management efforts like plastic packaging reduction, waste segregation and recycling, and participation in voluntary programs under the Extended Producer Responsibility Law to divert plastic waste.
As the corporate social responsibility arm of DMPI, the Del Monte Foundation runs broad community development programs covering health and wellness, livelihood and skills training, education and youth development. Its mobile clinics have delivered free medical and dental consultations across barangay in Misamis Oriental and Bukidnon, while organic farming, food service, driving and tailoring programs have provided practical skills to residents of these two provinces. Its college scholarships and Tesda-accredited education centers support the educational advancement of the youth in Northern Mindanao.
Del Monte Foundation has also partnered with Tetra Pak Philippines in the “Cartons for Communities” project. This circular economy initiative teaches responsible recycling of used beverage cartons, collects them and repurposes the material into furniture for schools — combining sustainability with direct community benefit.
What emerges from the DMPI centennial narrative is a model of green industry grounded in continuity rather than disruption. Stewardship here is not presented as performative innovation, but as the cumulative outcome of policies and standards maintained over time. In an era when sustainability claims often outpace implementation, Del Monte has a better metric of success: whether an enterprise leaves the land usable, communities stable, institutions credible and the nation better served than when it began. For Philippine business and industry, that may be the most practical definition of being green.
The author is The Manila Times Sustainability Magazine’s executive editor. He is a member of the Finex Foundation’s Environment Committee and its Sustainability Handbook’s Editorial Board.