MegaBrands · Pasta and Western staples

Del Monte: How an Italian Pantry Brand Sets India’s Benchmark in Pasta and Western staples

Del Monte, selected as the Mega Brand for Pasta and Western staples by the Business Intelligence Unit of WCRC, has sold durum wheat pasta, olives and olive oil to Indian households since 2009. In FY2025-26, the Del Monte business in India grew about 9% to roughly Rs 670 crore.

By WCRC Leaders Editorial · Published October 2026 · 8 min read

At a glance

Del Monte is the food brand behind an Italian range sold across India: durum wheat pasta, pasta sauces, olives and olive oil, alongside sauces, dips and beverages. Its products reached Indian shelves from 2008 and launched formally in 2009. Del Monte Foods Private Limited, led by Director and CEO Abhinav Kapoor, is a wholly owned subsidiary of the listed Sundrop Brands Ltd, which holds an exclusive, perpetual licence to the brand in India. It is the Mega Brand for Pasta and Western staples in WCRC MegaBrands.

Del Monte has spent almost two decades helping India learn to cook Italian at home. A brand with a long history in the United States, it arrived in Indian stores in 2008 and 2009 with a simple offer: pasta made in Italy from durum wheat, olives from Spain and olive oil.

The Indian story starts with a farm-to-shelf idea. In 2004, Bharti Enterprises and E.L. Rothschild set up FieldFresh Foods. In September 2007, Del Monte Pacific, which then held the rights to Del Monte food and beverage products in the Indian subcontinent, joined as a 40% partner. Its then Managing Director, Joselito D. Campos Jr., explained the logic at the time: “India is the second largest producer of fruits and vegetables in the world, but with an insignificant percentage of processed foods.” Renamed Del Monte Foods Private Limited in 2021, the company became part of Sundrop Brands Ltd (then Agro Tech Foods) in February 2025.

In FY2025-26, the Del Monte business in India had revenue of roughly Rs 670 crore.

WCRC MegaBrands covers 501 categories in India and selects one benchmark brand in each. It looks at brands through five pillars: Brand Positioning & Recall; Consumer Trust & Sentiment; Product, Innovation & Delivery; Sustainability, Governance & ESG; and Digital & Financial Soundness. Del Monte has been selected as the Mega Brand for Pasta and Western staples by the Business Intelligence Unit of WCRC (World Centre for Research and Consulting). Here is how Del Monte’s record lines up with each pillar.

Pillar 1: How Del Monte Built an Italian Identity

Brand Positioning & Recall · weighted 28% in the MegaBrands framework · How MegaBrands measures this

Del Monte’s position in the category rests on one clear promise: authenticity. In September 2019 the brand put that promise on television with “Can’t Get More Italian”, a campaign for its olive oil, dried pasta, pasta sauces and table olives. The film showed Italians fetching fresh ingredients and making the products, and it ran across digital platforms and outdoor media as well. Del Monte said at the time that it sources its Italian products from heritage, family-run producers in Italy.

Yogesh Bellani, then CEO, said the campaign aimed to highlight the flavours of the brand’s wide range of authentic Italian products.

The line still appeared in the brand’s online pasta product content in 2021.

The second source of recall is a single name. Del Monte uses one brand across its whole portfolio in India, from penne and olive oil to ketchup, mayonnaise and fruit drinks. A shopper who meets Del Monte ketchup in a sandwich shop sees the same name on a pack of spaghetti in the supermarket. Every category adds to the same store of memory.

Pillar 2: Why Indian Kitchens Trust Del Monte

Consumer Trust & Sentiment · weighted 26% in the MegaBrands framework · How MegaBrands measures this

For a cuisine that was new to many Indian homes, trust had to start with the ingredients. Del Monte’s pasta is made from durum wheat semolina and imported from Italy, and its olives are sourced from Spain. The brand says its pasta is rich in protein and dietary fibre, and it offers whole wheat penne and spaghetti for shoppers who want a fuller grain.

Trust also grew through familiarity. Del Monte built much of its early reach in foodservice, supplying restaurants and quick-service chains. Bellani, then CEO of FieldFresh Foods, described that strategy in 2017: “We’ve always seen our B2B business as a way of exposing our brand to millions of consumers, and we have now progressed to become a prominent B2C presence.” By 2019 he could see the result in smaller towns: “Consumers have been exposed to Italian cuisine through out-of-home consumption in smaller towns; and now it is finding its way into their homes.”

The brand helped that move along with teaching, not only selling. “We have created lots of digital content, recipe videos, most-asked questions, etc, to inform people about the products,” Anshu Anand, then Head of Marketing, said in 2019. For a family cooking its first plate of pasta, a short recipe video can matter as much as the pack.

Time has done the rest. Del Monte products have been on Indian shelves since 2008, and the company says the brand has become an integral part of thousands of kitchens in India.

Pillar 3: The Range and Reach Behind Del Monte

Product, Innovation & Delivery · weighted 20% in the MegaBrands framework · How MegaBrands measures this

Del Monte’s Italian range today covers the core of a Western pantry. There is durum wheat pasta in Penne Rigate, Spirali, Chifferi Rigati and Spaghetti, plus whole wheat penne and spaghetti. There are two pasta sauces, a Pizza & Pasta Sauce and a White Pasta Sauce. There are six kinds of black and green olives, and olive oil in Classic, Extra Virgin, Extra Light and Pomace grades.

The range was built step by step. In 2011 the brand rolled out four pasta sauces nationally in 340 g glass jars. Bellani, then head of the Del Monte Foods division, read the trend early: “Authentic Italian cuisine is the next big thing. A large segment of consumers is used to buying domestic vermicelli and macaroni and are seen to be upgrading to more authentic and easy-to-cook options.”

Del Monte then worked to make Italian food affordable beyond the big cities. In 2019 it brought in smaller packs and a lower-priced domestic pasta range alongside its gourmet range, aimed at shoppers in smaller towns, and set out to widen its presence in general stores.

The pasta itself comes from Italy, while two Indian plants make much of the wider Del Monte range. Hosur, in Tamil Nadu, is a manufacturing and R&D base for fruit drinks, sauces, dips and dressings. A second plant in Ludhiana, Punjab, was set up in September 2023 with automated high-speed lines for fruit drinks, sauces, dips and dressings. Since 2025 the brand has also been part of a larger company. When the deal was announced in 2024, Del Monte Pacific said the acquirer, then Agro Tech Foods, had a bigger consumer packaged goods platform with a wider and deeper distribution network in India. In April to June 2026, Sundrop Brands reported that Del Monte pasta volumes grew 10%, helped by 22% growth in foodservice.

Pillar 4: Del Monte and Disciplined Governance

Sustainability, Governance & ESG · weighted 16% in the MegaBrands framework · How MegaBrands measures this

Del Monte’s governance story is one of clear ownership and clear rights. The brand is run in India by Del Monte Foods Private Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sundrop Brands Ltd, which is listed on the National Stock Exchange and BSE. Sundrop Brands holds an exclusive, perpetual licence to the Del Monte name in India, while Del Monte Pacific keeps the trademark and earns a royalty. That gives the Indian business long-term certainty over the name on every pack.

Listing brings scrutiny. Sundrop Brands reports Del Monte’s growth separately in its quarterly investor presentations, so the brand’s performance is open to shareholders and analysts every three months. Del Monte Foods’ own board includes an independent director.

The group has also moved to simplify. In July 2026, Sundrop Brands approved a plan to merge Del Monte Foods India (North), which runs the Ludhiana plant, into Del Monte Foods, with the stated aim to reduce costs, remove inter-company transactions and improve administrative efficiency.

The business began in 2007 with a stated purpose: turning more of India’s large farm output into processed food. Public reporting on Del Monte’s own environmental record in India remains limited, and that is an area where the brand has room to tell more of its story.

Pillar 5: Del Monte’s Growth and Digital Momentum

Digital & Financial Soundness · weighted 10% in the MegaBrands framework · How MegaBrands measures this

Del Monte’s numbers show a business gaining pace under its new owner. In FY2025-26, its first full year inside Sundrop Brands, the Del Monte business in India had revenue of roughly Rs 670 crore, growth of about 9%. Momentum picked up in the first quarter of FY2026-27, when Sundrop Brands reported that the Del Monte business grew 14% over the same period a year earlier and the Italian category grew 8% in value and 15% in volume.

When the deal closed in February 2025, Abhinav Kapoor, CEO and Whole Time Director of Del Monte Foods, said the combination “marks a strategic milestone, unlocking new avenues of growth for the business.” Nitish Bajaj, Group Managing Director of the acquiring company, then Agro Tech Foods, said: “This strategic partnership strengthens our ability to offer a broader range of high-quality food products to Indian consumers.”

The parent is on a firmer footing too. Sundrop Brands returned to a net profit in FY2025-26 after a loss the year before, and held borrowings of just Rs 16 crore at 30 June 2026.

Digital channels are now a growth engine for the Italian range. Del Monte was already building recipe videos and online content in 2019. In April to June 2026, Del Monte pasta sales on e-commerce grew 31% and olive oil sales online grew 40%.

The Del Monte Benchmark

A MegaBrand is the brand its category is measured against. Del Monte holds that place in Indian pasta and Western staples because its record is strong across the pillars. It stands for authentic Italian food in the minds of shoppers, it earned trust by bringing that food into kitchens through restaurants and recipes, it has built a full Italian pantry with reach into smaller towns, it is governed inside a listed company with secure, long-term brand rights, and its sales are rising.

Above all, Del Monte shows how a global name can become a local habit. It did not ask Indian families to give up their own food. It gave them the ingredients and the confidence to add one more cuisine to the weekly menu.

Powerfacts

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About Del Monte

Del Monte is a food brand sold in India by Del Monte Foods Private Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of the listed Sundrop Brands Ltd, which holds an exclusive, perpetual licence for the brand in India. Launched in India in 2008-09, Del Monte sells durum wheat pasta, pasta sauces, olives and olive oil alongside sauces, dips, beverages and packaged fruit, with Indian plants in Hosur and Ludhiana. The Del Monte business in India had revenue of roughly Rs 670 crore in FY2025-26. Del Monte has been selected as the Mega Brand for Pasta and Western staples by the Business Intelligence Unit of WCRC (World Centre for Research and Consulting).