McCain Foods Florenceville plant shuts down extra weeks this summer

The McCain Foods plant in Florenceville will be shut down for part of the summer.

Due to a shortage of potatoes, the company will be shutting down operations beginning June 18 until after the long weekend of July 1.

Calla Farn, vice-president of public relations, expects to have enough potatoes available then until the first part of August, when the plant will be taken offline until the new potato harvest in early August or late September.

Farn says the plant normally closes for a couple of weeks in the summer as they transition to the start of the new potato harvest.

This news follows word of the more extensive shut down of the Grand Falls plant over the summer.

One of their production lines has stopped June 10, while the second will stop July 1. They are expected to be shut down until the new potato harvest.

Although in total 7 McCain plants in Eastern Canada and Manitoba will have an extended shut-down over the summer, the extension is for most plants just 1 or 2 weeks beyond the typical summer shutdown, with the exception of Grand Falls.