Cavendish Farms has officially opened its brand-new frozen potato-processing facility in Lethbridge. The project cost $430 million and took over a year to construct.
President of Cavendish, Robert Irving, said they chose Lethbridge because of the potatoes in the region.
“The quality of potatoes, we believe, is some of the best in North America.”
He added the new plant will triple production from its old facility, purchasing 16,000 acres of potatoes locally.
“We made this investment knowing that the growers would make the investment to grow more acres for it.
“They came forward and made a serious commitment to supplying quality potatoes so we know we will have potatoes for our plant here.”
The new plant will provide 238 jobs, something Lethbridge Mayor Chris Spearman said will continue to boost the local economy that is very much agriculture-based.
“It is the key to our economy. We don’t have oil and gas, but people will always want food.”
The potato products grown and manufactured in the Lethbridge and surrounding area will then be shipped internationally to places like China, Mexico and the United States.
The new facility marks the largest investment in the city’s history, and Irving added once the plant reaches capacity in a couple of years, they do have plans to expand.
The former Cavendish plant in Lethbridge’s industrial park will be decommissioned.