Whether you call them chips, spuds, or simply potatoes, one thing is for certain: potatoes, in their various forms, are one of the world’s favorite foods. In 1909, Andrew (A.D.) McCain moved beyond farming and selling potatoes in his local Canadian town to create a seed potato export company. A.D.’s sons, Wallace and Harrison, wanted to start their own business and their brother Robert suggested frozen foods as a niche. Together, Wallace and Harrison, with the support of their two other brothers Robert and Andrew, achieved their dream of owning their own business. McCain Foods Limited was incorporated in 1956 and the first fry plant opened in 1957 in Florenceville, New Brunswick. In its first year of operation, the company’s 30 employees produced 1,500 pounds of product each hour and earned $152,678. National trends were conducive to the company’s business as the 1950s saw an increase in demand for processed and more convenient foods. From this modest beginning, McCain Foods branched into its first international market in the United Kingdom in the 1960s. Next up: the United States and Australia. By the 1970s, the company had plants operating in England, Germany, Australia, and the U.S. Today, this market includes 55 plants on six continents. Not Your Average Potato McCain is considered the world’s largest privately owned frozen food manufacturer with products that go beyond its potato and French fry specialty. Though the company has used its creativity to produce a variety of new potato-based products, McCain also offers thousands of other foods such as vegetables, desserts, pizzas, juices, oven meals, entrées, and appetizers. One of the greatest benefits of buying from McCain is the frozen food advantage. Not only does this preserve nutrients but frozen food is also safer than fresh or chilled products. McCain Foods also makes it a point to offer healthy food to consumers. Many of its selections are Better for You products meaning they are nutritious offerings while still maintaining a great taste. Even before the food industry began its campaign against trans fas, McCain Foods was working toward the elimination of the fat in its products. Efforts first began in 2003 but were at full speed by late 2006; by this time, 29 percent of the company’s potato products and 93 percent of its snack foods were already sans trans fat. The company set the date of December 31, 2007 as the deadline to have trans fat completely removed from their product line, with the only exception being those foods that have a natural occurrence of trans fat such as some cheese. Processing nearly one million pounds of potato products each hour, this was no small task. The challenge lies not in the potatoes themselves but in the oil that is used to fry the products. The food industry’s campaign against trans fat left companies like McCain between a rock and a hard place: without using trans fat, there are few options left as a replacement that aren’t already deemed unhealthy. Saturated fats are the perfect example with consumers already aware of the importance of steering away from items that have a high percentage of them. With the food industry caught in the wake of this debate, McCain Foods maintained its stance against the use of trans fat and started a line of Better For You products that contain less than 30 percent calories form fat, under 10 percent calories from saturated fat, less than 230 milligrams of sodium, and zero grams of trans fat. The company is still working hard to educate others in the industry; it knows that even if trans fat is eliminated from its products, a chef could toss products into a trans-fat-laden fryer and all would be lost. “We have trained our sales force and our independent brokers to help communicate that message clearly,” says van Shaayk. “We think the industry needs to move more quickly to give the general public confidence in the food that they eat,” he continues. Year of the Potato McCain Foods operates with a vision: “Good Food. Better Life.” For a company whose job it is to literally feed the world, the company is aware that there are many people around the globe who live in abject poverty, left out of reach of McCain’s products. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (UNFAO), potatoes produce more nutritious food more quickly, on less land, and in harsher climates than any other major crop. To that end, in 2008, McCain Foods sponsored the International Year of the Potato, funding programs with to raise awareness about the vital role of the potato and to educate farmers in the developing world on the sustainable potential of potato crops. Anticipated Growth In the face of these changes in the food industry, McCain Foods isn’t anticipating a slow down; in fact, the company is planning to invest approximately $150 million in the construction of a new plant in the Pacific Northwest. The new facility is slated to come online in 2009 and will produce mainly French fries and potato specialties, mainly for the food service and quick service restaurant customers in the United States and international markets. “Our presence in the Pacific Northwest positions us very well for US domestic and international growth,” says President and CEO Dale Morrison. “The region is ideally suited for our business with optimal potato growing conditions, an established grower community and a lo-cost distribution source point for overseas markets,” he explains. Historically responding to marketplace demand, McCain is currently reassessing this strategy and looking to create demand by setting the precedent for new and improved food products. Planning to use its global presence to set the pace, McCain Foods is likely to enjoy increasing revenues while it continues to reassess how the food industry serves the world.