Nobody, least of all the McCain brothers, imagined that the little frozen foods plant they opened in 1957 would, before the century was over, make Florenceville into the French fry capital of the world.  Wallace and Harrison McCain worked hard and turned their family name into the most famous Canadian brands in the world.  Because they knew people were their most important asset, they hired and trained enthusiastic, independent thinkers to help them build McCain Foods into a global powerhouse in the frozen food industry. In doing so, they benefited not just themselves but thousands of employees all over the world as well as the millions of consumers who enjoy the convenience and nutritional benefits of McCain products.  For McCain Australia, it all started in 1968……… 

McCain first commenced operations in Australia in 1968 by selling imported french fries.    Within two years the Company had purchased a small production facility at Daylesford and began processing locally grown potatoes into french fries.  The capacity of the plant at Daylesford after some upgrades were made was 20,000 tonnes of potatoes per annum and it wasn’t long before the Company had three shifts operating round the clock to meet demand.

It was obvious to the Company that the market for frozen chips was still in its infancy and with that in mind a decision was made to build a brand new production facility capable of at least doubling the capacity of the Daylesford plant.  The climatic conditions of Ballarat were already known to be almost ideal for growing quality potatoes and the district already had a good reputation in this regard and so it was that Ballarat was decided as the location of the new plant.

A 7 hectare lot was purchased in Ballarat and construction of the new plant began in 1974 with operations commencing at the plant in August 1975.  The annual processing capacity of this new plant was 48,000 tonnes.  This production rate equates to processing approximately 660 standard cup serves of chips per minute!

Through acquisitions and expansions detailed in the timeline McCain Foods (Australia) Pty Ltd now produces french fries, vegetables, pizzas, meals and potato specialty products in plants located in Ballarat, Tasmania (Smithton) and South Australia (Penola) for both the retail and Foodservice markets,  and the Ballarat site alone now covers an area of almost 48 hectares.   This site also houses a cold store with storage capacity of approximately 1.2 million cartons of frozen product.

McCain Foods (NZ) Limited began operations by selling a range of products imported from Australia to both the retail and Foodservice markets.  The first sales office opened in Auckland in 1987 and since then, further acquisitions and development, again detailed in the timeline, McCain in NZ now produces french fries, vegetables and meals in plants located in Timaru and Hastings.

In both Australia and New Zealand, McCain Foods is a significant player in the retail and Foodservice markets and is the market leader in several of its categories.  No wonder this success prompted the company slogan: Ah McCain, You’ve done it again!

Manufacturing sites Australia & New Zealand

*McCain's head office is located in Ballarat, Australia