McCain Foods facts for kids
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| Private | |
| Industry | Frozen food |
| Founded | Florenceville, New Brunswick, Canada (1957) |
| Founders | Harrison McCain Wallace McCain |
| Headquarters | 439 King Street West, 5th Floor,
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Canada
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Area served
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Worldwide |
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Key people
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James Scott McCain – Chairman Max Koeune – President and CEO of McCain Foods Limited Danielle Barran – President of McCain Foods (Canada) |
| Products | French fries, appetizers, vegetables, desserts, entrees, and oven meals |
| Revenue |  $14 billion CAD (2023) |
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Number of employees
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20,000 (2023) |
McCain Foods Limited is a Canadian company that makes frozen food. It started in 1957 in Florenceville, New Brunswick, Canada.
McCain Foods is the world's biggest maker of frozen potato products. In fact, about one out of every four french fries eaten around the world is a McCain fry! The company sells its products in 160 countries. It has operations in many places, including Canada, the US, the UK, Australia, and China.
Contents
History of McCain Foods
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McCain Foods was started in 1957 by two brothers, Harrison McCain and Wallace McCain. They had help from their two older brothers. Their first factory was built next to the Saint John River.
In their first year, McCain Foods had 30 employees and made over $150,000 in sales. Just four years later, McCain products were sold in England. In 1968, McCain built a french fry factory in Scarborough, North Yorkshire and started sending products to Australia.
McCain began exporting to the United States in 1969. To keep prices low, they focused on selling in the Northeast region. By 1970, they also started growing potatoes in Australia. In 1973, McCain entered the European market by buying a factory in the Netherlands.
Growing in North America and Beyond
In 1975, McCain bought a potato-processing factory in Washburn, Maine, in the US. They opened another factory in Easton, Maine the next year. The company expanded into Germany in 1978 and France in 1981.
By 1987, McCain bought another factory in Maine. These two factories processed about 250 million pounds of frozen potato products in 1988. McCain also became an official supplier for Burger King in 1988. That same year, they bought the Ellio's brand of frozen pizza. They also expanded beyond the Northeast US, buying factories in Washington and South Dakota.
In 1990, McCain bought a local company called Tater Meal. This company used McCain's potato waste to make animal feed. Later, in 1994, there was a disagreement between Harrison and Wallace about who would lead the company next. Wallace left the company and later bought Maple Leaf Foods.
In 1997, McCain bought the food service part of a rival company, Ore-Ida. The next year, they sold their McCain Refrigerated Foods business.
New Products and Global Expansion
In 2000, McCain bought the Old South orange juice brand. At the same time, they sold their own citrus business. In 2001, McCain bought the factories and food service business of Anchor Food Products. In 2002, McCain also bought Wong Wing Foods Inc., a Canadian company known for frozen Chinese meals.
McCain continued to grow globally. They opened a french fry factory in Harbin, China, in 2004. In 2006, they opened another factory in Gujarat, India. That same year, they bought Jon-Lin, a company that made vegetable-based appetizers.
In July 2012, McCain bought CelaVíta, a company that made chilled potato products in Europe. In December, McCain's Australian branch bought Kitchens of Sara Lee, which included the rights to the Sara Lee brand in the Pacific Rim. In 2013, McCain bought the Lutosa division, which included a brand and two factories.
In August 2014, McCain sold its frozen pizza business, including Ellio's. They also announced plans to close a factory in Prince Edward Island, Canada. This factory was their smallest and least used.
Recent Developments
In April 2015, McCain announced the closure of its plant in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin. In December 2015, the company bought Intevation Food Group. In March 2016, McCain bought a big part of Van Geloven, a frozen food maker. This helped them grow in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.
McCain launched a new snack line called McCain Marché in August 2016. In September 2016, they announced they bought Great American Appetizers. Two years later, their factory in Monroe, North Carolina closed.
By 2017, McCain was the world's largest maker of frozen potato products. They had over 20,000 employees and 47 factories on six continents. The company made more than $8.5 billion in sales each year.
In 2017, McCain shared that they would only use eggs from cage-free chickens by 2025. In 2018, McCain bought 49% of a Brazilian cheese bread company called Forno de Minas Alimentos SA.
In January 2019, the company announced the closure of its factory in Colton, California. In May, McCain announced it had bought 70% of Sérya, another Brazilian frozen food company.
In 2020, the company said it would invest $200 million to build a second potato factory in China. In February 2021, McCain sold most of its share in Wong Wing. They also became the biggest owner of TruLeaf, a company that uses vertical farming to grow food. In August, they sold their Sara Lee frozen baked goods business in Australia. In September, they introduced The Simple Root, a new line of dairy-free products made from potatoes and other root vegetables.
After a conflict began in Ukraine in February 2022, McCain stopped all shipments to Russia. They also canceled plans to build a factory there. In June, the company bought technology from Resson to help predict crop growth. In July, McCain partnered with NUGGS to produce plant-based chicken nuggets. McCain opened its first factory in Brazil in August and bought Scelta Products in the Netherlands in September.
In March 2024, the company announced it had sold CelaVíta. In April 2024, McCain bought Strong Roots, a plant-based frozen food company from Ireland. In July, they announced plans to stop making their Fries To Go line and close a factory in Lincolnshire. In September, they sold a frozen pizza brand and a factory in Argentina.
In 2024, McCain Foods and some other companies faced a lawsuit. They were accused of working together to raise prices on frozen potatoes. These four companies control most of the potato market in the United States.
In May 2025, McCain's Van Geloven company announced it would close three of its factories in Belgium and the Netherlands.
UK Operations
McCain Foods has a factory in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, in the UK. They also have a plant in Whittlesey, Cambridgeshire, and a cold storage facility in Easton, Lincolnshire.
