McCain Foods

"This is a story about a man from a small community who, together with his brothers, built a global empire. Harrison McCain was a lead- ing entrepreneur of the last century. He had all of the strengths of a great entrepreneur and some of the weaknesses as well. He was bold and decisive, and, if needed, could hold a meeting in his own mind, without need for others to help make a decision. The meetings never lasted long, but they produced decisions and results. Though the early years at McCain Foods were particularly challenging, he seldom had time or inclination for self-doubt. His deep attachment to his business, his community, and its residents is legendary. Driving through Florenceville, one intuitively slows down. The com-"

"jects that his government could support. The mid-1950s also saw governments in many Anglo-American democracies intervening more and more in the economy to promote economic development and job creation. It was as true for right-of- centre government as it was for left-leaning governments. In Canada, for example, it was the John Diefenbaker Progressive Conservative government that introduced the first of many economic development measures for slow-growth regions.6 Flemming announced with considerable fanfare that he would sup- port the McCain project for his constituency. He proudly declared, “We are convinced that this new industry will help to provide new and profitable markets for farmers over a wide area of New Brunswick.”7 The Flemming government guaranteed a $470,000 bond on behalf of McCain Foods. This, Wallace McCain explained, “was a big deal for us.” It enabled McCain Foods to borrow money at a low interest rate. “Who,” he asked, “was going to buy McCain Foods bonds without a guarantee?”8 Hugh John Flemming was not to be outdone by other provincial"

"this mantra time and time again whenever the question was broached. As for expertise, Harrison and Wallace once again got lucky when they learned that a pioneer in the business was living just down the road from them, working for H.C. Baxter in Houlton, Maine. Olof Pierson would earn the label “the father of the frozen French fried potato.”16 Pierson was an eccentric, MIT-trained, chain-smoking, hard- drinking, absent-minded inventor. He earned a master’s degree in aeronautical engineering from MIT in 1932, and while serving in the American army during the Second World War he was given the task of working out how to dehydrate potatoes for the armed services. His success led to his joining H.C. Baxter, where he continued his work on processing potatoes, first in canned goods and later in freezing them as french fries. He invented and drove the process and indeed was dir- ectly responsible for the first package of frozen french fries sold in 1947 by the Birds Eye Company.17 He later became an independent consult- ant in the frozen food business. McCain Foods was an early client, and later he advised the United Nations Food Organization. Pierson had the run of the place on the technical side with McCain"

"game and attracting private sector jobs away from their own region. It was Flemming’s turn not to be outdone. He established the New Brunswick Industrial Board in 1956, and McCain Foods was the board’s very first project. It handed out its first two loans or bond guaran- tees to McCain Foods – one for the construction of the plant and the second for cold storage. The assistance was for twenty years at a 5 per cent interest. They were the first of many loans, loan guarantees, and grants McCain Foods would receive from the provincial and federal governments as they grew their business.11"

"take a decision that the advantages of moving quickly were often lost. There would be no such problem with McCain Foods. Decisions were quickly made and it was also acceptable to make mistakes, provided one learned from them. Morris explained, “If you were wrong, you got a heck of an education and you probably didn’t make that mistake again. If you were right, you were so far ahead of everybody else and it was a major coup for the company.”24 The McCain brothers and Morris hired staff that were of like mind."

"But growing potatoes and producing frozen french fries are two vastly different things. The risks were high, knowledge of the sector was virtually non- existent, and Carleton County had no expertise in building, let alone managing a frozen food plant. Youth, energy, and raw ambition were about to come face-to-face with a daunting challenge in an environ- ment that provided little help. Reading about the early months at McCain Foods essentially speaks to an exercise in improvisation, of attempts at trying this and that to see what would work. First on the agenda was to find a site for the plant. Second was to build it. Third was to acquire the machinery and make it work. Fourth, hire staff. Fifth, make the freezing process work and ensure quality. Sixth, identify and pursue markets. All in all, a daunting agenda for two men still in their twenties, with no experi- ence in the sector."