A new $65-million potato processing plant began production on Tuesday at McCain Foods in Florenceville-Bristol.
The state-of-the-art facility replaced the first factory ever built by the company more than 50 years ago.
The new plant marks the end of an era and the blossoming of another for both McCain Foods and the Northern Carleton families whose roots have grown alongside the company over the years.
Allen Tompkins of Florenceville ran the steam engine that peeled the first potatoes ever processed by McCain Foods back in 1957.
On Tuesday, Allen's eldest son, Leon Tompkins, supervised production as the first fries came off the line at the new plant.
"I plan to stay here till I'm done,"said Leon, who started working with McCain Foods while just a young boy.
"My father always said he'd never leave, and he never did,"said Leon.
"McCain was more or less his family."
Operations have certainly changed since Allen Tompkins's co-workers hand-peeled potatoes and packed french fries into cartons by hand.
"Our production and packaging functions are highly automated today,"said company spokesperson Calla Farn.
She said new technology at the factory will provide greater flexibility and improved efficiency in operations.
