After more than 20 years of importing frozen products from its factories in Europe for sale in Russia and neighboring countries, McCain Foods has decided to initiate production in the Russian Federation to supply customers in the area with french fries and specialty potato appetizers.
An investment of $150 million euros will be made in a potato processing facility that will be located in the Tula Oblast region. Once up and running, the plant is expected to provide employment for approximately 200 people.
“Working closely with farmers to source high-quality raw potatoes, we will continue to lead innovation in frozen potato products that meet growing market demand for locally sourced and prepared products across a range of cuisines in markets around the world,” stated a recently issued announcement from the Florenceville, New Brunswick, Canada-headquartered company.
The plan has apparently been in the works for some time, as last June McCain Foods Holland BV and McCain Europa BV established McCain Foods Rus LLC in the Uzlovaya special economic zone, according to the Russian newspaper Kommersant.
McCain Foods Limited is a family-owned business founded in 1957. Its extensive line frozen potato, appetizer and snack products can be found in restaurants and retail stores across more than 160 countries. The company employs approximately 22,000 people worldwide, operates 51 production facilities on six continents, partners with 3,500 farmers and generates annual sales in excess of CDN $10 billion.
