Do we like them?

Do we like McCain Foods?

World's largest maker of frozen potato products (fries, wedges, appetizers); headquartered in Toronto, Canada

Our score: 6 out of 10. A big, mostly steady food maker with real farming and emissions targets. We'd back it with some caution: it was fined over a worker's amputation, and the family is fighting in court over ownership.

McCain Foods started in 1957 in Florenceville, New Brunswick. Four brothers founded it, and Harrison and Wallace McCain are the best known. It's now the world's largest frozen-potato maker and is still privately owned by the family. A holding company owns it, and outside executives have run it since 1995.

Max Koeune is the CEO and Scott McCain chairs the board. The company keeps buying: it agreed to buy Penobscot McCrum in Maine in November 2025, and in October 2026 it agreed to buy Falcon Agrifriz Foods' potato business in India. The Globe and Mail says McCain has run in India since 1998.

The low point on worker safety came in 2023. The UK's Health and Safety Executive prosecuted McCain Foods (GB), and a Lincoln court fined it £700,000. A night-shift worker at the Easton plant had lost two fingers in a machine with no guard. McCain says it has since improved machinery safety.

On the green side, McCain says nearly 70% of its potato acreage is on its regenerative agriculture framework. It also says it has cut Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 28% since 2017. Those are the company's own figures, but it publishes yearly sustainability reports and has set targets out to 2030.

The family drama is back. In April 2026 heir Eleanor McCain sued the family holding company, saying it blocks her from selling her roughly 8.7% stake at a fair price. The holding company says the claims are without merit, and none of the allegations have been proven. We score McCain a 6: a decent operator with a safety blot and a messy ownership fight.