McCain Foods Canada has announced that it is investing $12 million in the Florenceville, New Brunswick, Canada potato processing factory where parent McCain Foods Limited turned out its first batch of frozen french fries back in January of 1957. The expenditure is being made to add capacity to the existing line that produces fries for the company’s foodservice and retail business. Construction on the first phase of the project began in August, with the second phase scheduled for completion in early 2020.
This capacity build will require an additional 400 hectares (1,000 acres) of potatoes from local growers in the community. It follows a recent $65 million investment adding a new potato specialty line to the same production facility in 2017.
“McCain french fries continue to be in high demand and we are investing in a strong and sustainable future,” said Danielle Barran, president of McCain Foods Canada “Investing in Florenceville, the birthplace of McCain, where we have long-standing relationships with employees, the community and with local potato growers, always feels great.”
For more than 62 years McCain Foods has grown steadily from its Florenceville roots, remaining headquartered in Canada and proudly family-owned all the while. From just 30 employees and sales of $150,000 during its first year of business, the company has expanded to become a global enterprise with more than 21,000 employees operating out of 53 production facilities on six continents with international sales in excess of CDN $9.5 billion annually.
