Cavendish Farms officially opened its new state-of-the-art potato storage facility in New Annan, Prince Edward Island, on Oct. 23.
Premier Wade MacLauchlan and Hon. Lawrence MacAulay, Minister of Agriculture for the Government of Canada joined Cavendish Farms President Robert K. Irving to cut the ceremonial ribbon.
“This investment in our Prince Edward Island operation will allow us to ensure a quality supply of potatoes year round,” said Irving. “This will allow us to continue providing the best quality frozen potato products to our customers.”
The new facility is 88,000 square feet and has a refrigerated potato storage capacity of 48 million pounds. It is made up of two separate buildings with each building being 44,000 square feet. The Tolsma System will allow Cavendish Farms to maintain consistent quality potatoes year-round for use at its two processing plants on the Island.
“As Canada’s Food Island, our province is proud to offer high quality potatoes and frozen potato products that are enjoyed around the world. Cavendish Farms’ major investment in state-of-the-art storage facilities will enhance our competitive position and add to our collective prosperity,” said Prince Edward Island Premier Wade MacLauchlan.
“Our government has set an ambitious target to export $75 billion of agri-food products by 2025. Here on the Island, our potato farmers will play a key role in achieving this target. With this innovative potato storage facility, our farmers will have more opportunities to sell their products year round, while helping to grow our middle class through good jobs and long-term employment. The impact of this new facility I’m sure will be felt across the Island,” said Honourable Lawrence MacAulay, Canada’s Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food.
There have been approximately 60 people working on the site every day since constructing began in May. The vast majority of workers are Island-based. It is estimated the construction took 120,000 person hours of work.
“We are proud of our roots in this province and look forward to future growth with our employees and growers,” said Irving. “It is because of their efforts that we provide great tasting French fries to customers around the world from right here on Prince Edward Island.”
