Fresh Del Monte told investors it expects a roughly $40 million to $45 million cost headwind starting in fiscal Q2. Ocean freight is the main driver, including bunker fuel and war-risk surcharges, which cover transit risk through the Strait of Hormuz. Inland transport, fertilizer, and packaging are also contributing. The company is among the first large importers to put a hard P&L number on the Hormuz disruption.
Why it hits so hard: Del Monte owns most of its ships, so a fuel spike lands straight on its own ledger. The company operates 10 of its 13 ships through its Network Shipping arm, which means there is no carrier contract to soften a bunker fuel jump. A shipper buying space from Maersk would have more protection. Del Monte absorbs the increase itself.
The company moves bananas and pineapples from Latin America and the Philippines and distributes prepared food into Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. Cargo moving through Gulf-linked lanes is what creates the war-risk exposure.
On the Q1 2026 earnings call, CEO Mohammad Abu-Ghazaleh said, “Movements in energy costs do not remain isolated. They cascade through the entire system.”
The wider bill: A separate $20 million to $25 million headwind runs across the balance of the year, split roughly evenly between FX pressure from the Costa Rican colon and higher US driver and inland transport costs.
Commercial transit through Hormuz is running well below pre-crisis levels. Maersk’s Gulf emergency freight surcharge stands at $3,000 per standard 40 ft dry container and $3,800 per reefer, special, or dangerous-goods container. Drewry’s composite rate is at a 22-month high of $4,166.
How peers compare: Dole, Del Monte’s direct produce rival, flagged similar Q2 pressure from shipping and fuel in its Q1 results but declined to attach a dollar figure. Walmart, the largest US grocery retailer and a buyer of Del Monte’s prepared-food lines, separately absorbed about $175 million in Q1 fuel cost on the retail side.
The company is leaning on contractual fuel-recovery clauses and pricing actions to blunt the hit, but its sourcing footprint, anchored in Latin America and the Philippines, keeps exposure to the Gulf route persistent.
