🔒Taste of Maine potato chip plant under construction in Aroostook County

A 96,000-square-foot potato chip plant is under construction at the former Loring Air Force Base in Limestone.

Owner Bruce Sargent says he expects the plant to be open by April 2026. The plant will use up to 1,500 acres of Aroostook County potatoes annually and employ 40 to 60 people. Sargent had hoped for an earlier opening date but the construction was delayed by the state permitting processes.

Located on Northcutt Road near the west entrance of the former base, the plant will initially use four kettles to make kettle chips but is being built for an eight-kettle capacity. At the start, the plant will be able to process 2,200 pounds of chips an hour.

This will be the flagship plant for Taste of Maine Potato Chip Co., which is based in Presque Isle.

Buck Construction, of Mapleton, is leading construction of the plant. Andy Martin is the project manager of the construction. Martin affirms that the project will be completed next year. “We’re scheduled for a certification of occupancy for July 6, 2026,” he says.

Cost of construction has been reported at $55 million.

Logical logistics

One of the distinctive attributes of kettle chips is the fact that they shrink quite a bit. This can result in a business advantage for the plant in Limestone.

Sargent says that because the key ingredient is grown nearby, less money will be spent on shipping the chips. And chips are lighter than potatoes, which are 90% water before they are processed. The majority of the shipping cost will be just the processed product.

For processors located farther from the potato fields, if they buy 55,000 pounds of potatoes, they end up with 12,500 pounds of chips.

Another advantage for Taste of Maine is the fact that Sargent also owns Falcon Transportation, a trucking business based in Presque Isle. “I’ve got the shipping,” says Sargent.

The new plant will be a significant job creator in a part of the state where jobs are needed. In addition, the construction of the plant provides an economic boost to Aroostook County.

Buck Construction has experience with large projects in the County, having constructed a dry storage building at the McCrum french fry facility in Washburn in 2023. Martin says there are currently 30 to 40 people working on site in Limestone but 60 to 80 people will be working on the plant as completion nears.

“It’s the best thing that has happened to Aroostook County in my lifetime,” says longtime potato farmer Wayne Marquis of Marquis Farms in Van Buren. “When I was a kid all the french fry facilities went belly up.”

Marquis notes that the McCrum facility built in 2020 has increased opportunities for farmers in the region, along with longstanding processor McCain’s.

“Lumber and potatoes are the two big things in Aroostook County,” he says.

Marquis does note that there might be something of a learning curve for farmers who haven’t sold to the chip market before.

“It’s grown a little different and its’s stored a little different. Once you learn it though it’s not really harder,” he says. Marquis is interested in growing for the new plant but it is too early to tell if that will happen. “The jury is still out,” he says.

Several other growers in Aroostook County contacted about the opening of the new plant also expressed interest in growing for Taste of Maine.

Maine is one of the top 10 potato producing states in the nation. About two-thirds of the potatoes grown in the state are processed into potato chips or french fries. Although there are a few small companies making artisan potato chips in Maine, the Taste of Maine plant will be the only large producer of potato chips in Aroostook County.

Regulatory hurdles

One of the permits Taste of Maine had to acquire before construction began is an air emission license, which regulates the emissions coming from the various boilers and fryers at the plant. The plant will have three propane boilers for heat. Propane emits relatively low amounts of pollutants such as sulfur dioxide. The fryers that will cook the chips will also use propane. The air emission license was granted in February.

In general, marketing potatoes for processing rather than as table stock creates stability for the farmer. The value-added potential of potato chips establishes a less volatile market than the market for commodity potatoes. In recent decades, Maine has shifted somewhat from commodity to processing potatoes. The Taste of Maine facility will be competing in the northeast with companies such as Cape Cod Potato Chips, based in Hyannis, Mass.

Jim Gerritsen, an entrepreneur and former owner of Wood Prairie Farm in Bridgewater, has been growing potatoes in Aroostook County since the 1970s. He sees opportunity in the new potato chip plant.

“Whenever there’s a new market for Maine potatoes, it’s a good thing for Maine,” he says.

Gerritsen also recognizes the contribution Bruce Sargent and his family have made to the Maine economy.

“They’ve made a commitment to improve things in Maine,” says Gerritsen.

Gerritsen applauds the fact that the new plant will give a new market for the many Maine potato farmers who grow potatoes for processing, noting the many Maine potatoes grown for chips end up being processed at a Frito-Lay plant in Connecticut.

Whereas seed potatoes and table stock are sold on the open market, the price for processed potatoes is generally more stable, according to Gerritsen.

“They know what price they are going to be getting for their potatoes,” he says.

In a business with slim margins, price stability can be crucial. Gerritsen notes that growing potatoes for seed, for example, can be quite different than growing potatoes for processing.

“It’s apples and oranges. It’s two entirely different things,” says Gerritsen. He notes that seed growers often kill their potatoes early, to initiate an early harvest and potentially avoid disease. Growers cultivating a crop for processing are aiming for tonnage.

For now, Brian Guerrette of Guerrette Farms in Caribou mostly sells fresh potatoes. But that could change with the Taste of Maine plant opening nearby.

Getting into the nitty gritty of making potato chips, Guerrette says that the variety grown is key because chipping potatoes have to have a higher dry matter than fresh potatoes. Another concern is the color of the chips — many consumers are used to a light color chip. Certain varieties produce a lighter chip than others.

Guerrette, like many potato farmers in the region, see Taste of Maine Potato Chip Co. as a bright sign for the future of Aroostook County.

“Any local use for the product is better than any other,” Guerrette says. “We have an opportunity because we can go either fresh or processed potatoes with the new plant.”