Lamb Weston Twin Falls plant celebrates 50th anniversary

ConAgra Foods Lamb Weston is celebrating 50 years of making foods that people love at its operation in Twin Falls. Every day, more than 600 employees at the plant transform tons of locally grown potatoes into millions of pounds of french fries, mashed potatoes, hash browns and other favorites.    

The plant opened in 1962 – an early entrant into the frozen french fry business. In 1966, an expansion added hash browns to the menu of products made at the Twin Falls facility. ConAgra Foods Lamb Weston purchased the operation in 1994, making it a part of the Lamb Weston family.  

“The Twin Falls operation has been successful since 1962 thanks to the quality of our employees,” said Curt Snyder, plant manager. “The high-quality potato products they make have led to increasing demand from our growing customer base, allowing us to expand our operation several times. I’m confident that our employees’ ongoing ability to meet customer expectations will ensure our continued success.”  

Lamb Weston is sponsoring a number of events to help employees to mark the anniversary. Long-time employees are offering remembrances of their careers.  

“I’m grateful for the opportunity to have worked at this company for 41 years and thankful for the things that I have learned and those who have taught me,” said Ron Ambrose, rebuild mechanic. “I feel good about the things I have accomplished while working for the company. The plant has changed a lot since I first started. The hash brown plant and what is now line two were the only buildings then. It is amazing to see how much it has grown. The opportunities we have as employees have greatly changed, as well.”  

“I started with this plant when we were Idaho Frozen Foods in 1969 at 19 years old. Now I’m nearing retirement. I’ve seen a lot of changes over the years,” said Betty Burgoyne, quality assurance tech. “The plant went from a one level french fry and hash brown plant, to six different processing and packaging departments with an upper level peel deck and trim tables and a bigger break room. It’s been interesting to be part of new and improved ways of doing things. At the same time, some of the old methods still seem to work today as good as ever.”  

Thanks to employee’s sustainability efforts, the Twin Falls operation was recently named a Zero Waste Champion by ConAgra Foods. Employees’ focus on recycling and other projects is helping to divert more than 95 percent of plant waste from area landfills, marking a major milestone in ConAgra Foods journey to achieve zero waste. In addition, employees’ focus on customer satisfaction has earned the plant and recognition for customer service the past two years.