The former McCain Potato Processing Plant in Borden-Carleton, Prince Edward Island, will be sold to local steel company MacDougall Steel Erectors (MSE), the company and the Province announced today.

It began as a trickle — people with their arms filled with personal items, leaving the McCain Foods processing plant in Borden-Carleton for the last time Wednesday — and soon it turned into a mass exodus.

Cavendish Farms says it is facing the very same challenges as its rival McCain Foods: currency, competition and costs.

The Prince Edward Island potato industry is reeling today from the announcement that McCain Foods will close its Borden-Carleton French fry facility as of October 31, 2014.

McCain Foods Canada is closing its Borden-Carleton, Prince Edward Island french fry facility as of Oct. 31, directly affecting 121 people.

Prince Edward Island process potato farmers who grow for McCain Foods have a new contract. The deal was reached in last-minute negotiations before it actually had to go to arbitration.

Provincial and federal officials are seeking assurances from McCain Foods Canada as dwindling production and reduced shifts at its Borden Carleton facility have sparked worries