Canadian frozen potato products giant McCain Foods has re-booted a US$300m expansion plan for a plant in the US that was put on hold due to the uncertainty wrought by Covid-19.
The company revealed in May it had suspended plans to expand the plant in Othello, Washington State, because of a drop-off in demand from the foodservice channel during the coronavirus crisis and restrictions on all but essential construction work.
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But now it has pressed go again, with work on site due to resume this month.
Paolo Picchi, McCain’s regional president of the Americas, said: “We are excited to resume construction on the 170,000 sq ft expansion of the Othello plant, where McCain Foods has operated for over 31 years.
“This expansion will increase production capacity through the addition of a new state-of-the art French fry processing line, bring new jobs to the community and require approximately 11,000 additional acres, sourced from local potato growers in the region.”
McCain’s Othello plant employs more than 450 people who produce and distribute more than 400 million pounds of frozen products annually.
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By GlobalDataThe company promised back in May that once social distancing measures are lifted and the out-of-home market recovers it would review restarting the expansion project.
