Potatoes in Canada

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McCain Foods closing P.E.I. processing plant

Aug. 8, 2014, Borden-Carleton, P.E.I. – A spokesman for P.E.I.'s potato industry says it is “reeling” from news the French fry processing plant operated by McCain Foods in Borden-Carleton is closing down.

P.E.I. Potato Board chairman Gary Linkletter says he had hoped the factory would be used to help meet the growing global demand for fries.

He says it’s a shock that the factory that employs 121 people and is supplied by 23 Island family farms is closing its doors.

The company says the worldwide demand for French fries is shifting outside North America and that means production is shifting to other factories elsewhere in the world.

McCain Foods is also pointing to the rise in the value of the Canadian dollar as a factor in the decision to close the plant by the end of October.

The New Brunswick-based food company says production at its plant in P.E.I. has dropped by two-thirds over the last decade and it’s now the smallest factory in the McCain’s network.

August 8, 2014  By The Canadian Press



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