NewsBusinessMcCain to Double Size, Output of Coaldale, Alta. Plant

McCain to Double Size, Output of Coaldale, Alta. Plant

-

McCain Foods is investing $600 million to double the Coaldale, Alta.’s facility’s size and output, a March 13 news release said. The project will create 260 new jobs at the plant.

“The development in Alberta marks our largest global investment in our 65-year history, totalling $600 million, while underscoring our commitment to the future of agriculture and innovation in Canada,” Max Koeune, president and CEO of McCain Foods, said in the release.

The release noted the facility will follow McCain’s sustainability commitments with best practices being implemented to assist in the company’s goal to cut greenhouse gas emissions across its global operations in half by the end of the decade. The expansion will include wind turbines and solar panels. Renewable biogas generated at the wastewater treatment facility will be maximized and transported to the steam boilers to offset natural gas demands and a water recycling system will be implemented to produce clean potable water to be used in the manufacturing process.

The expansion will create two new state-of-the-art production lines. Once fully operational, the expansion project will add both hourly and salaried employees to work on these lines, more than doubling the plant workforce to 485, the release said. Construction on the expansion is expected to start later this year.

McCain Foods has operated a processing facility in Coaldale since 2000, currently employing 225 people and working with potato farmers across southern Alberta, the release said.

Related Articles

McCain Foods Releases Its 2022 Sustainability Report

McCain Partners with FCC for Financial Incentives for Sustainable Ag

McCain Buys Predictive Crop Intelligence Product from Resson

Trending This Week

To Get Healthy Potato Plants, We Have to Feed the Soil

Soil is not inert. Given the proper conditions, it is a vibrant ecosystem – full of life. In nature, soil is kept healthy by the...

It Takes Both Faith and Science to Grow a Potato

0
A colleague and I were talking recently, and she mentioned how much hope and faith goes into potato farming. Faith can have different definitions,...

How to Spatially Arrange Spuds to Maximize Their Growth Potential

0
In our spring production webinar, Dr. Mark Pavek explained how much of a difference in-row spacing, between row spacing, and row direction can make...
Rows of planted potato hills

2023’s Huge Crop Influencing Planting Plans for 2024

0
Last fall’s record processing crop across the Pacific Northwest is shaping current stores, export opportunities, product movement and planting plans for the year ahead. Though...

The Unintended Limits of Organic Farming

0
I had a conversation some weeks ago that has really stuck with me. The conversation was with Joy Youwakim, an agroecology scientist at Biome...