Cavendish Farms opens new $430-million frozen potato processing plant in Alberta
Cavendish Farms’ newest potato processing plant is officially open for business — in Lethbridge, Alta.
The announcement was made Oct. 3 at a ceremony held at the new Lethbridge frozen potato processing facility.
Cavendish Farms President Robert K. Irving was joined by Alberta Premier Jason Kenney, Lethbridge Mayor Chris Spearman and other dignitaries to celebrate the largest private sector investment in the history of the City of Lethbridge.
“It is a great day for Lethbridge and for our employees, growers, suppliers and customers. Our new state-of-the-art plant is up and running and will allow us to continue to serve key export markets around the world,” said Irving.
“There were many reasons we were able to expand our operation in Lethbridge and grow in Alberta. It starts with the availability of high-quality potatoes from local growers, the can-do attitude of our Lethbridge employees and the dedicated effort of the project team and the hundreds of vendors who contributed to this project.”
Premier Kenney said the new facility is good news for Lethbridge and all the Albertans who will work at the plant.
“This new plant is a vote of confidence in Alberta,” said Kenney. “Alberta’s food processing industry is growing in size and sophistication and will be a key part of our government’s strategy to expand Alberta’s economy and create more jobs.”
Lethbridge Mayor Chris Spearman added his congratulations.
“Today we’re seeing the result of what happens when industry and municipalities work together,” said Spearman. “Cavendish Farms has invested in our community and invested in our future and we are thrilled to congratulate them on the opening of their latest state-of-theart processing facility.”
The new plant replaces a previous Cavendish Farms’ processing plant and will almost triple its production capacity in Lethbridge.
The $430 million-dollar plant spans the size of seven football fields and will require 735 million pounds of potatoes annually. That’s an increase of almost 12,000 acres over what Cavendish Farms currently contracts from local growers.
With this expansion, the Lethbridge plant will now provide employment to 238 employees. The project involved two million person-hours of work for contractors during construction. Over 900 workers were on site at peak. Upwards of 110 Alberta companies were part of the project.
Cavendish Farms produces frozen potato and appetizer products for the North American and international food industry, supplying customers in the retail and restaurant sectors. They operate four potato processing plants – one in Lethbridge, two on Prince Edward Island, and one in Jamestown, North Dakota. They also operate a fifth plant specializing in appetizer products in Wheatley, Ont.