Supplier Profiles: McCain Foodservice

McCain is a household name, and it’s equally familiar to the foodservice industry.

Below is an excerpt from the Foodservice and Hospitality article “Supplier Profiles: A Look at Four Iconic Canadian Foodservice Suppliers”

For many families in Canada, McCain is a household name, and it’s equally familiar to the foodservice industry. The family-owned Canadian business was founded by the McCain brothers, Wallace, Harrison, Robert and Andrew, in their hometown of Florenceville, N.B. in 1957. Under Wallace and Harrison’s leadership, the company established itself quickly and grew to become the largest manufacturer of frozen french fries and potato specialties globally. (Florenceville is now considered the french fry capital of the world.)

“McCain has partnered with Canadian potato farmers, starting in the province of New Brunswick, since 1957 and now across the country. Generations of the same family often choose to work with McCain. These long-standing relationships have enabled McCain’s success over decades of farming. McCain has now grown into one of the world’s largest producers of frozen potato products. A title we’re immensely proud to carry,” says Greg Boyer, Marketing director at McCain Foodservice Canada.

In its first year of production, the processing plant at McCain was able to process 1,500 lbs. of potato products every hour. With only 30 employees, in its first year the company was able to gross more than $150,000 in sales. Today, McCain Foods has more than 20,000 employees with 51 production facilities on six continents. It sells one in three of the world’s frozen french fries in more than 160 countries.

McCain works with grower partners, sharing expertise in sustainable-agricultural practices. The company works with more than 150 farm families across Canada who collectively farm approximately 32,000 hectares. McCain’s Potato Technology Centre in Florenceville provides ongoing research to ensure it continues to deliver high-quality products, and the business invests extensively in market research to best understand the Canadian foodservice landscape. The result is reflected in innovations that mirror new and emerging food trends in the appetizer category. For example, global flavours and small plates that are positioned appropriately to the operator.

“McCain’s role in foodservice is to help restaurant operators — from the independents to large QSR chains — bring creativity, versatility and crave-ability to their menus,” Boyer says. “Changing consumer tastes and behaviours present an incredible opportunity in foodservice and with McCain’s collective expertise we’re ready to support the latest trends through product innovation. Our McCain Foodservice team continues to address real-life operator challenges and support successful business outcomes with solutions that work.”