McCain Foods executives, managers and a number of invited guests broke ground on October 3 to ceremoniously mark the start of construction in a major expansion project at its frozen french fry factory in Florenceville-Bristol, New Brunswick, Canada.
The 32,000-square-foot, $65 million upgrade will feature state-of-the-art manufacturing equipment and technology that will allow McCain to meet rising demand for hash brown patties and other specialty potato products among foodservice and retail customers in North America and overseas. It is scheduled to be operational by August of 2017.
The expansion of the company’s flagship processing plant is expected to create 40 to 50 new jobs and have a significantly positive impact on potato growers in New Brunswick.
“We are probably going to need an additional 4,000 acres of potatoes or more to feed the new production line. We will obviously buy all that we can locally, but we may have to even reach across borders to meet our needs,” said Dale McCarthy, vice president of the integrated supply chain in North America.
Among persons taking part in the ground breaking ceremony were Chairman Allison McCain; Shai Altman, president of McCain Foods Canada; Jeff DeLapp, regional president for North America; Karl Curtis, mayor of Florenceville-Bristol; and Greg Toner, regional director at the Department of Agriculture, Aquaculture and Fisheries.
About McCain Foods
McCain Foods employs over 17,000 people and operates 42 production facilities on six continents. Ranked as the world’s largest manufacturer of frozen potato specialties, the company also produces other products such as appetizers, vegetables and desserts, which can be found in restaurants and retail stores in more than 160 countries around the world. In Canada, the company has seven production facilities and approximately 2,600 employees.
