Ronald Neysmith Expect Quotations

Standard & Poor's does not expect major margin improvement in fiscal 2006 for the larger players. Even though commodity prices have stabilized, they remain at historical highs.

We expect that Del Monte will apply its free cash flow to debt reduction over the intermediate term to improve credit measures to those more commensurate with the current rating. The rating could be lowered if Del Monte is unable to reduce leverage as planned.