McCain Announces Big Expansion Of Othello Processing Plant

“This is like Christmas in May.  It’s wonderful news for the potato community,” said Washington state Potato Commission Executive Director Chris Voigt on this week’s news that McCain Foods plans to invest $300 million to expand the company’s Othello processing facility.  Company officials announced a 170,000 square foot addition, which will add both a battered and conventional fry processing line.

Voigt said when the expanded facility is open, McCain will need roughly 11,000 additional acres of potatoes.

“So, that’s great news for our industry, Voigt said.  "It’s also challenging news too, because we probably don’t have 11,000 acres of potatoes right now for processing.  But, maybe we do.  So, we’re going to go full steam ahead on investing in science to help us see if we can produce more potatoes on the existing ground that we have.”

McCain says the expansion should bring 180 new jobs to the Othello area.  The hope is to have construction wrapped up by the end of 2021.

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