Cavendish Farms is a Canadian food processing company and subsidiary of the
J. D. Irving group of companies. Its headquarters are in
Dieppe, New Brunswick
Dieppe () is a city in the Canadian maritime province of New Brunswick. Statistics Canada counted the population at 28,114 in 2021, making it the fourth-largest city in the province.
Dieppe's history and identity goes back to the eighteenth ...
and potato processing plants in
New Annan, Prince Edward Island
New Annan is a Canadian rural community located in Prince County, Prince Edward Island. It is named after Annan, Dumfries-shire, Scotland.
Cavendish Farms, Prince Edward Island's largest private sector employer, maintains two large frozen ...
,
Lethbridge
Lethbridge ( ) is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada. With a population of 101,482 in its 2019 Alberta municipal censuses, 2019 municipal census, Lethbridge became the fourth Alberta city to surpass 100,000 people. The nearby Canadian ...
,
Alberta
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
, and
Jamestown, North Dakota
Jamestown is a city in Stutsman County, North Dakota, United States. It is the county seat of Stutsman County. The population was 15,849 at the 2020 census, making it the ninth largest city in North Dakota. Jamestown was founded in 1883 and i ...
, and an appetizer plant in
Wheatley, Ontario
Wheatley is a community in Southwestern Ontario, Canada, within the municipality of Chatham-Kent. It lies about east of Leamington. Nearby parks include Two Creeks Conservation Area, which has 15 km of hiking and bicycling paths, Kopegaron ...
.
It is the 4th largest processor of frozen potato products in
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
.
It was established in 1980. The New Annan facility employs about 700 people. It is "one of the largest employers on Prince Edward Island.
Cavendish Farms is the "largest private-sector employer on P.E.I."
About 80 P.E.I. farmers grow potatoes for Cavendish Farms.
Background
In 1980, Irving Group purchased C.M. Mclean potato and vegetable processing facility in PEI Canada and renamed it Cavendish Farms.
In 2001, Cavendish Farms acquired its "first US processing plant in
Jamestown, North Dakota
Jamestown is a city in Stutsman County, North Dakota, United States. It is the county seat of Stutsman County. The population was 15,849 at the 2020 census, making it the ninth largest city in North Dakota. Jamestown was founded in 1883 and i ...
".
Cavendish Farms is part of the family-owned Irving Group of Companies established in 1882.
Cavendish Farms is the 4th largest processor of frozen potato products in North America,
and the "largest private-sector employer" on P.E.I.
Prince Edward Island is known for its
potatoes
The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae.
Wild potato species can be found from the southern United ...
—the potato industry employs—directly or indirectly— about 12% of the Island's workforce, and contributes over $1 billion annually to the P.E.I.
which represents 10.8% of the province's GDP. In 2013, about 88,000 acres of potatoes were grown on P.E.I.
Of the three types of potatoes harvested table potatoes, seed potatoes, and processing potatoes, about 60% of P.E.I. are "manufactured into French fries, potato chips, and many other products."
By 2020, about 80 P.E.I. farmers grew potatoes for Cavendish Farms.
Potato industry in Prince Edward Island
P.E.I.'s potato industry is the "biggest economic driver in the province".
In 2017, P.E.I. had the " largest potato crop in Canada", according to Statistics Canada."
"Processing potatoes into french fries and other frozen products represents up to 70 per cent of the industry."
Ground water (Prince Edward Island)
Prince Edward Island implemented a moratorium on deep well irrigation in 2002, to protect its ground water supply.
At an October 2015, P.E.I. Environmental Advisory Committee meeting to draft a Water Act, Leo Broderick with the Council of Canadians said that the Island needs to "legislate a ban on deep well irrigation to prevent long-term
groundwater depletion
Overdrafting is the process of extracting groundwater beyond the equilibrium yield of an aquifer. Groundwater is one of the largest sources of fresh water and is found underground. Groundwater depletion is comparable to a bank account in which mor ...
".
The Ministry of Environment provides an online—both historical and real-time—of groundwater levels (GWLs) with data from 14 groundwater level observation wells across PEI:
Baltic, Bear River, Bloomfield, Caledonia, Georgetown, Knutsford, Lakeside, New Dominon, New Zealand Road, Riverdale, Sleepyhollow, Souris Line Road, Souris River Road, St. Charles, Summerside GST, and York.
The major source of water supplies in Prince Edward Island—both industrial and potable—is groundwater from 260 watersheds that are "relatively small and non-contiguous."
In the late 2010s, the agriculture sector's demand for supplemental irrigation, has presented several challenges for "water and resource managers". Because of the uneven topography of the island and its "relatively small and non-contiguous watersheds", "pumping groundwater has ... raised concerns for groundwater sustainability." In their January 2020 article in the journal ''
Water
Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a ...
'', the authors write that an "inventory of groundwater is necessary for efficient water resource management, especially in relation to growing groundwater demands for agricultural use. It is neither feasible nor economical to install and manage monitoring groundwater wells in a place like Prince Edward Island, which consists of 260 watersheds for efficient water management."
By 2016, yields for P.E.I. process growers were not increasing at pace with other North American regions, according to
P.E.I. Potato Board.
In 2017, because of "limited availability of potatoes on the Island" the company imported 150 million pounds of potatoes in 2017 from New Brunswick,
Manitoba
Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...
,
Alberta
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
and
Maine
Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...
, according to Ron Clow, the General Manager of Cavendish Farms.
CBC News reported on May 14, 2018, that "French-fry giant Cavendish Farms" had "reiterated its desire to see the end of a moratorium on new high-capacity agricultural wells" which Irving said would help P.E.I. potato farmers "stay competitive".
At the Greater Charlottetown Area Chamber of Commerce's annual general meeting, the company president, Robert K. Irving—who was the keynote speaker—said that without "supplemental irrigation" is needed when low rainfalls and drought-type conditions would mean below-average yields during potato growing season."
Potatoes are sensitive to soil water deficits compared to other crops such as wheat, and need frequent irrigation, especially while tubers are growing. With
climate change
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
, reduced rainfall in many areas is predicted to increase the need for irrigation of potato crops. Potatoes require 8.4 gallons of water needed to produce 100 grams of each crop, which is quite efficient compared to corn.
In July 2018, Cavendish Farms announced that because of a shortage of Island potatoes, they would be closing their fresh packaging facility in O’Leary and laying off 40 workers.
Covid-19 pandemic
P.E.I. farm owner, Douglas Campbell, who is District Director of the National Farmers Union, expressed concern that "family farms will disappear unless they are forced under the umbrella of the industrial sector, the processors and retailer. Farmers are often under pressure to use farm practices which they know are destructive. In PEI alone thousands of farm families have been pushed off the land."
During the COVID-19 pandemic, with inter-provincial borders already closed, Cavendish Farms said that because of a surplus of potatoes, that the "P.E.I. potato producers under contract to supply" Cavendish Farms with potatoes should "sell to other markets if they can".
Campbell raised concerns that the $4.7 million relief fund announced by the PEI Minister of Agriculture was largely "destined" for the Irving group of companies.
When Cavendish Farms became aware that they had access to government pandemic relief funds, they told their potato producers under contract to supply, that they plan on taking "potatoes from the growers and produce marketable french fries".
In a May 2020, CBC interview, the United Potato Growers of Canada (UPG)'s general manager, Kevin MacIsaac, said that "french fry processors are asking their growers to plant anywhere from 15 to 35 per cent fewer" potatoes in 2020, which had resulted in a surplus of "80 million pounds of unsold seed potatoes".
A veteran potato farmer from Grahams Road, P.E.I. who had farmed since the 1970s, said that he had "700,000 pounds of unsold seed potatoes in cold storage" that in a normal year would have yielded over "10 million pounds of potatoes in the fall, ready to be processed into french fries."
The province provided "$4.7 million to pay for shipping and storage of processed potatoes in order to have Cavendish Farms... use up existing stocks from Island growers".
The P.E.I. Potato Board said that the provincial funds meant that 100 million pounds of P.E.I. potatoes were processed which "protected $13 million in revenues" for the potato producers, roughly 80 Island farmers.
Lands Protection Act
In 2019, the P.E.I. chapter of the
National Farmers Union raised concerns that the spirit of the province's 1980s Lands Protection Act was not being respected as three farm corporations,—Galloway Farms Ltd., Long River Farms Ltd. and Indian River Farms Ltd.—all naming Mary Jean Irving, the daughter of
KC Irving, and/or one or both of her two daughters, Rebecca and Elizabeth Irving, as shareholders and directors—submitted 32 applications to the
Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission
The Prince Edward Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission, informally shortened to the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission or IRAC, is the independent tribunal and regulating arm of the Government of Prince Edward Island.
IRAC was establishe ...
to "purchase parcels of land totalling 2,221 acres in the Summerside area currently owned by Brendel Farms Ltd."
The Lands Protection Act "set limits on land ownership of 1,000 acres for individuals, and 3,000 acres for corporations."
In response to the concerns, Mary Jean Irving said that she has been on the "Island and growing potatoes for 29 years" and her two daughters are also interested in farming.
Irving said that "neither J. D. Irving group of companies, nor its subsidiary Cavendish Farms, were involved with the proposed land purchases".
Indian River Farms
Indian River Farms, which is also owned Irving group of companies, is managed by Elizabeth Irving, who is a fifth generation family member. Indian River Farms was established in 1992 and has a staff of about 20 to 49. Its main production is Irish potatoes. In the late 2010s, during a period of long stretches of dry weather" on the Island, potato growers in the area around
Spring Valley, Prince Edward Island
Spring Bay is a rural community in Lot 18, Prince County, Prince Edward Island, Prince County, Prince Edward Island, Canada. Spring Bay is part of the incorporated municipality of Malpeque Bay, Prince Edward Island, Malpeque Bay.
Overview
Spri ...
began to construct large holding ponds of water "seeking to improve potato yields". By 2019, Indian River Farms had seven large holding ponds near Spring Valley and were building more. Electric pumps housed in sheds feed ground water into the large ponds, some of which are constructed on "raised berms, above ground level". All are supplied with groundwater from "multiple low-capacity wells nearby" using electric pumps, housed in sheds. In a July 4, 2019 article in ''The Guardian'', concerns were raised by some Islanders about the way in which large holding ponds in "the back country, away from people" were circumventing the spirit of the ban on new high-capacity agricultural wells on P.E.I. A concerned group of Islanders toured an irrigation pond in Spring Valley. Elizabeth Irving, who is a fifth generation family member of the 135-family Irving group and the manager of Indian River Farms said that a study undertaken by a hydrologist contracted by Indian River Farm, suggested that farming only uses "less than one percent of the annual recharge from surface runoff and precipitation".
Locations
The company's head office is
Dieppe, New Brunswick
Dieppe () is a city in the Canadian maritime province of New Brunswick. Statistics Canada counted the population at 28,114 in 2021, making it the fourth-largest city in the province.
Dieppe's history and identity goes back to the eighteenth ...
with sales offices in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
,
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
, and
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
. Cavendish Farms has potato processing plants in New Annan, Prince Edward Island, Lethbridge, Alberta, and Jamestown, North Dakota, and an appetizer plant in
Wheatley, Ontario
Wheatley is a community in Southwestern Ontario, Canada, within the municipality of Chatham-Kent. It lies about east of Leamington. Nearby parks include Two Creeks Conservation Area, which has 15 km of hiking and bicycling paths, Kopegaron ...
.
New Annan, Prince Edward Island
By 2020, the New Annan facility, which employs 700, was "one of the largest employers in the Prince Edward Island"
In 2017 the company constructed a "50 million pound refrigerated storage facility."
Jamestown, North Dakota
Cavendish Farms acquired facilities in
Jamestown, North Dakota
Jamestown is a city in Stutsman County, North Dakota, United States. It is the county seat of Stutsman County. The population was 15,849 at the 2020 census, making it the ninth largest city in North Dakota. Jamestown was founded in 1883 and i ...
in 2001—its first processing plant.
Lethbridge
The company acquired a processing plant in
Lethbridge
Lethbridge ( ) is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada. With a population of 101,482 in its 2019 Alberta municipal censuses, 2019 municipal census, Lethbridge became the fourth Alberta city to surpass 100,000 people. The nearby Canadian ...
, Alberta in 2013 and in 2017, opened a new frozen potato processing plant there.
Partnerships
Cavendish Farms partnered with Holland College's Culinary Institute of Canada to establish the Cavendish Culinary Creation Center.
Yields for P.E.I. process growers were not increasing at pace with other North American regions, according to
P.E.I. Potato Board.
In May 2016, Cavendish Farms, its process growers, the government of PEI's Potato Board and the
Department of Agriculture began a three-year Enhanced Agronomy Initiative, which is led by the Potato Board's Ryan Barrett.
to "increase yields and profits."
All four partners are jointly funding the Initiative, which will cost $180,000 a year for the three years.
The growers funding is paid through a "special check-off on their processing contracts".
The Initiative's steering committee also includes
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC; sometimes Ag-Canada; french: Agriculture et Agroalimentaire Canada)''Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada'' is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of Agriculture ...
and the
Dalhousie Faculty of Agriculture representatives.
See also
*
J.D. Irving Limited
J.D. Irving Limited (JDI) is a privately owned Conglomerate (company), conglomerate company headquartered in Saint John, New Brunswick, Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. It is a subsidiary of the parent company, Irving Group of Companies, al ...
*
K.C. Irving
Kenneth Colin Irving, (March 14, 1899 – December 13, 1992) was a Canadian businessman whose business began with a family sawmill in Bouctouche, N.B., in 1882. In 1989, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.
Biography Early life
Bor ...
*
Irving Group of Companies
The Irving Group of Companies is an informal name given to those companies owned and controlled by the descendants of Canadian industrialist K.C. Irving, namely his children J.K. (b. 1928), Arthur (b. 1930), and Jack (1932–2010) and their respe ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cavendish Farms
Agriculture companies of Canada
Irrigation in Canada
Canadian companies established in 1980
Food and drink companies established in 1980
Food and drink companies of Canada
Multinational food companies
Multinational companies headquartered in Canada
Companies based in New Brunswick
Frozen food brands
Privately held companies of Canada
Canadian brands