Del Monte to Buy Sunfresh Brand

Del Monte Foods Co., the largest U.S. producer of canned fruits and vegetables, agreed to buy the rights to UniMark Group Inc.’s Sunfresh fruit brand and a distribution center in Texas for about $14.5 million.

Sunfresh is a line of tropical and citrus fruits that are sold in jars in grocery-store produce departments. UniMark will make chilled and canned citrus products for Del Monte at its plants in Mexico, the company said. The distribution center Del Monte is acquiring is in McAllen, Texas.

The purchase adds citrus and tropical fruits to Del Monte’s existing line of peaches, pears and other fruits that are sold in jars under its fast-growing Orchard Select brand. Introduced in fiscal 1998, the brand’s annual sales have risen to $24.5 million from $4.9 million in two years.

Del Monte, based in San Francisco, had $1.46 billion in sales in the year ended in June. UniMark had $66 million in sales in 1999 and is based in Bartonville, Texas.

Del Monte shares were unchanged at $6.63 in New York Stock Exchange trading. UniMark shares fell 6 cents to $1.19 in Nasdaq trading.