It is the world's largest manufacturer of frozen potato products, with 1 in 4 french fries in the world being a McCain fry.[3] Its major competitors are Simplot and Lamb Weston.[4][5]
History
[edit]A plate with McCain Smiles, a face-shaped mashed potato bite.
In their first year of production, the company hired 30 employees and grossed over $150,000 in sales.[8][6] During the 1970s–1990s, the company expanded into additional prepared food markets including frozen pizza and vegetables.[9]
As of 2017, the company is the world's largest manufacturer of frozen potato products, and has over 20,000 employees and 47 production facilities in six continents. The company generates more than C$8.5 billion in annual sales.[10]
Based on 2014 sales, it is the 19th largest private company in Canada, according to The Globe and Mail'sReport on Business.[11] Nancy McCain, of the McCain family, is married to former Canadian Finance Minister Bill Morneau.[12] In 2020, McCain Foods won the Lausanne Index Prize – Best of Packaging.[13]
A legal case in which McCain Foods (GB) Ltd sued Eco-Tec (Europe) Ltd. was decided by the High Court in 2011. McCain had ordered a system intended to remove hydrogen sulphide from biogas produced in its waste water treatment plant, which would allow the gas to produce power and heat for the Whittlesey plant. The system proved to be "impossible to commission successfully" and so McCain sued for compensation. The court's ruling confirmed that Eco-Tec were in breach of their contract.[15] Legally, the court took a broadly inclusive approach to the scope of the losses incurred by McCain and the damages due to them, declining to treat a number of items as "consequential losses" for which Eco-Tec sought protection under a contractual exclusion clause.[16]
^England and Wales High Court (Technology and Construction Court), McCain Foods Gb Ltd v Eco-Tec (Europe) Ltd. (2011) EWHC 66 (TCC), delivered January 27, 2011, accessed January 16, 2023
$14 billion CAD (2023)
