McCrum bought out by McCain’s, Aroostook County reacts

Photo / Courtesy of McCrum The McCrum potato processing plant was built in Washburn in 2020 and now employs 145.

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By John O'Meara

Potatoes are Maine’s largest agricultural crop. Although the market for retail “eating” potatoes is strong, the majority of Maine’s potatoes are processed into popular snacks such as fries or potato chips.

A major shift has recently occurred in the world of processed potatoes — international giant McCain’s bought out Washburn-based processor McCrum.

Many longtime Aroostook County residents remember the various potato processing facilities that have existed on Parson’s Road in quaint, idyllic Washburn.

Five years ago, Penobscot McCrum invested $32 million to reopen and modernize a long-shuttered facility, creating competition for the larger McCain’s facility in nearby Easton. Now, virtually all of the processing in Aroostook County will by done under the wide and far reach of McCain’s.

Given that Penobscot McCrum’s facility in Washburn has only been operational for five years, some observers were surprised by the buyout.

“I think it was a surprise to some and expected by others,” says Brian Guerrette of Guerrette Farms in Caribou, who sells fresh potatoes across the country but also sells processing potatoes to both McCain’s and McCrum.

“They were already receiving McCain’s potatoes,” notes Guerrette of the facility in Washburn, implying that recent developments are building on an already established county relationship between the processors.
Guerrette emphasizes that he’s had good experiences with each of the parties.

“Both McCain’s and McCrum have been very fair,” he says. He does wonder whether McCain’s will keep all of the current farmer contracts McCrum has with local producers, noting that there may be some producers who might opt to stop growing amidst the current shakeup.

Guerrette also wonders about the opportunities that will now be available for people wishing to enter the world of growing processing potatoes.

"Is McCain’s willing to take on new vendors? Their history has been to take on fewer vendors” Guerrette says.

Jim Gerritsen of Bridgewater in southern Aroostook County wonders what the buyout will mean for potato growers in Maine’s largest county. Gerritsen has had an ownership stake in Wood Prairie Farm, an organic seed potato farm, and is a long-time observer of Maine’s potato industry.

“I think the actions of monopolies helps monopolies,” he says. “It isn’t good if you are a farmer looking for places to sell potatoes if a new startup is bought out by a monopoly.”

With the future of potato processing in Aroostook County in flux, uncertainty and silence has fallen over the county’s largest industry.

Calls to the Maine Potato Board, Penobscot McCrum and McCain’s have gone unanswered as of this writing.