McCain is set to modernize its Béthune plant in Pas-de-Calais, to produce new packaging more suited to mass distribution and to “strengthen its competitiveness”, thanks to an investment of EUR17m.

The new investment package, which continues the EUR125m expenditure for a period of five years in France, should make it possible “to continue the modernization of the site, to create a new packaging line” and to set up “a new packaging for French fries, more suitable for mass distribution “, according to a press release issued by McCain Foods.

“This investment of EUR17m in Béthune is the first in a series that will be deployed by McCain by 2026” to evolve towards “more modern and sustainable industrial production”, Erwin Pardon, president of McCain Europe, noted in the cited document.

The Minister for Industry, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, not so long ago visited the Béthune site, a city hard hit by the closure of the Bridgestone tire plant, which employed nearly 900 people.

The government official welcomed “the investment of a family group of international scope (…) which thus consolidates its long-standing presence in our country and more particularly in the Pas-de-Calais”. For Runacher, this announcement “results from the industrial attractiveness policy led by the government”.

In Bethune, where it has been established since 1986, McCain employs nearly 230 people, for two production lines, one for frozen fries, the other for dehydrated potato flakes.

Founded in 1957 in Canada, McCain established itself in France in 1981. The country is now its largest market in Europe and is home to three of its six factories on the continent, two in Pas-de-Calais and one in the Marl. The frozen French fries giant buys one million tons of potatoes per year in France, from more than 850 farmers, according to the press release.