Scarborough, North Yorkshire, UK-headquartered McCain Foods GB has reportedly posted before-tax profits of £63.8 million for the fiscal year ending on June 30, 2016. Year-on-year sales for the producer of frozen french fries and other value-added potato products advanced 2.71% to £452 million.
The family-owned business, a unit of the Florenceville, New Brunswick, Canada-headquartered McCain Foods Group, operates four factories in Britain. It employs approximately 1,700 people in the United Kingdom, and ranks as the largest purchaser of British potatoes, working closely with over 300 UK growers and buying approximately 15% of the annual crop.
McCain Foods has been producing frozen potato products in the UK since 1969. Its first sale in that market, however, took place a decade earlier. Interestingly, it was not french fries, but rather 50 tons of frozen peas exported from Canada to Smedley’s. Today the company has 50 production facilities across six continents, employing upwards of 18,000 people around the world who make a diversified line of products ranging from potato specialties and vegetable mixes to pizza, snacks, ready meals, desserts and more.
