By Scott Mitchell Johnson
Staff Writer
MARS HILL — Officials with Naturally Potatoes broke ground June 4 on a $7.5 million expansion that will double the potato processing plant’s production capability and storage capacity.
According to William Haggett, chair and CEO of Naturally Potatoes, the company will process 50 million pounds of Maine potatoes next year.
“With annual growth rates exceeding 15 percent, Naturally Potatoes is rapidly running out of production space,” he said. “This major facility expansion is designed to add $7.5 million of new assets to a $1 million packaging line upgrade now nearing completion inside the facility.”
Staff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson
BREAK GROUND — A ground-breaking ceremony was held June 4 at Naturally Potatoes in Mars Hill. The company’s current 65,000 square foot facility will be expanded by another 32,000 square feet, which will double the potato processing plant’s production capacity and storage capability. Participating in the ceremony were, from left: Matthew Senter, senior vice president of Farm Credit East; Ward McLaughlin of West Ridge Farms, potato supplier; Robert Clark, executive director of Northern Maine Development Commission; Travis Kearney, chair of the Mars Hill Town Council; Mars Hill Town Manager Dave Cyr, Greg Clark, president of Buck Construction, contractor; Walter Whitcomb, commissioner of the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry; Rodney McCrum, president and chief operating officer of Naturally Potatoes; Brent Grass of B.D. Grass & Sons, potato supplier; and William Haggett, chair and CEO of Naturally Potatoes. The project is expected to be completed later this fall.
Naturally Potatoes’ current 65,000 square foot facility will be expanded by another 32,000 square feet.
“This new plan will include 12,000 square feet of dry storage, double the refrigerated warehousing area, more than double product cooling capacity, add a new water blancher, add new mashed potato kettles, add potato packaging equipment, provide a new employee cafeteria, and provide space for a cheese packaging line,” Haggett said. “In the process, an employee parking area will be constructed, as well as systems to control rainwater runoff.”
Naturally Potatoes was created in 1997 by a group of northern Maine farmers, as well as Rodney McCrum, president and chief operating officer, who saw a future in the refrigerated potatoes market.
“Seventeen years ago, a group of us started Naturally Potatoes to create jobs in Aroostook County and to give a place for our young people so they would not have to leave this state,” said McCrum. “It was also a place to give our growers more opportunities. There were many hard days in those early years, but with the help of the Libra Foundation and Bill Haggett, and with the attitude ‘never give up,’ we began to flourish and grow rapidly.
“We sold the company in 2005 to Basic American Foods because of our continued growth. We were getting known throughout the United States and we became a company that was wanted by others,” he said. “When they decided to sell Naturally Potatoes in 2010, Libra, Bill and I did not want to see 100 jobs leave Aroostook County that everyone worked so hard to get, so we jumped at the chance to purchase the company back.”
Since reacquiring the business, Naturally Potatoes has resumed its earlier patterns of sales growth, product diversification, earnings improvement, increased capacity utilization, and higher levels of Maine grown potato consumption every year.
“We attribute these successes to a highly effective marketing effort, a terrific group of employees who safely produce the refrigerated potato industry’s highest quality products in a cost effective manner, area farmers who grow the best russets and red Norland potatoes in America, and an overall business climate in Maine that is conducive to expansion in our market segment,” said Haggett.
McCrum said the expansion would not have been possible without the hard work of the company’s employees and growers alike.
“I’m proud to stand here today with the 100 employees who have worked hard, not only to keep the dream alive, but in making us a major supplier to many of our refrigerated customers throughout the United States. This is a fast-growing segment of our industry,” he said. “Our products are shipped to most states in the U.S. We couldn’t do this without our growers. We work with them on a day-in and day-out basis. They do what we want to do, they meet our standards, and that’s why we have this place here and that’s why we’re expanding.”
Naturally Potatoes is in the second year of a two-year agreement with its growers, and expects to purchase 20 percent more potatoes and pay slightly higher prices per hundredweight this year than last.
Haggett said about 20 growers in Aroostook County supply Naturally Potatoes with product.
“Except for a farm that we own in St. Agatha, most of them are within 25-30 miles of the plant,” he said. “We’re expecting to buy more from our current growers. They have the capacity to sell us more potatoes so we want to keep them growing and moving forward.”
Haggett thanked the town of Mars Hill for its tax incentive financing support and the state for providing Pine Tree Zone benefits.
“This expansion signals that Naturally Potatoes’ best days still lie ahead,” said Haggett.
Mars Hill Town Manager Dave Cyr said the town will assist the company in any way it can.
“The Town Council is very committed to supporting the company’s TIFF application to assist in the financing of this project,” said Cyr, “and we’ll do what we can to see that application through.
“What this expansion means to the community is economic development and opportunities for employment,” he said. “It’s also an opportunity for the farmers to have another market for their crops. Mars Hill is a farming community, and when the farmers do well, everybody else seems to do well.”
Interestingly, the expansion project, which will add 12-15 jobs over the next 18 months, will include a macaroni and cheese production line.
“We don’t have that now, but with the expansion we’ll have the ability to produce macaroni and cheese like the product you see on store shelves. The recipe may be a little different than the typical recipe, but it’s going to be very similar,” said Haggett. “This facility’s going to be finished hopefully by the end of this year — that’s the plan — and when that’s finished, then the capacity will exist to get into the macaroni and cheese business. We’ve already had customers who have asked us about macaroni and cheese, so that will be an exciting new venture.”
Naturally Potatoes’ products can currently be found at Applebee’s, Logan’s, BJs, Pizzeria Uno, Disney, O’Charley’s, 99 Restaurants, Famous Daves, Publix, Hannford, Golden Corral, Sysco and Dot.
Following the ground-breaking ceremony, employees and guests were treated to a barbecue lunch.
