McCain Foods (Canada) has officially opened its new $65 million state-of-the-art potato specialty production line, expanding the company’s flagship potato processing facility in Florenceville-Bristol, New Brunswick.
The 35,000-square-foot McCain Foods line addition represents its largest capacity expansion investment in Canada in nearly a decade. The investment is reflective of the continued growth of the North American frozen potato and potato specialty segments in both foodservice and retail business sectors.
“Florenceville continues to be the french fry capital of the world. The official opening of the new production line underscores our ongoing commitment to invest in the needs of our consumers and customers today, and also the company’s focus towards future product development and innovation,” said Jeff DeLapp, president, North America, McCain Foods Limited.
“During our 60th year of business, investment in the Florenceville-Bristol facility is a testament to the importance the community holds as the birthplace of McCain Foods,” added DeLapp. “In addition to the more than 40 new jobs created, the construction build stimulated economic activity within the region, and an additional demand of 4,000 acres of potatoes is to be supplied to the facility by New Brunswick potato farmers.”
Since the company was founded in 1957, McCain has set the pace in the Canadian frozen potato market segment across retail, foodservice and quick service restaurant channels.
All of the company’s potato products are made from 100% real potatoes grown on farms close to six processing facilities, which are spread across the country in the provinces of New Brunswick, Manitoba and Alberta.
“McCain is proud to partner with over 150 farming families,” stated Shai Altman, president, McCain Foods (Canada). “Our products are a direct result of the quality potatoes grown by farmers, many of whom share a multi-generational partnership with McCain, some dating back to our start 60 years ago.”
For the past six decades, McCain Foods has grown proudly from its Florenceville, New Brunswick roots. With 30 employees and sales of $150,000 in its first year of business in 1957, the company has steadily expanded to become a global enterprise with more than 20,000 employees operating out of 53 production facilities on six continents with sales in excess of CDN $9 billion, while remaining Canadian headquartered and family-owned.