Canada: Alberta’s potato industry is booming thanks to a global appetite for french fries

Alberta’s potato industry is in the midst of a growth spurt thanks in part to a growing appetite in Asia for french fries and hash browns. The number of harvested acres of potatoes in Alberta has grown about 35 per cent since 2019, according to Farm Credit Canada, and with McCain Foods doubling the size of its potato processing facility near Coaldale, a town in southern Alberta, the sector is expected to grow even more. "Generally speaking, it’s [looking] very optimistic for the sector going forward," said Leigh Anderson, senior economist with Farm Credit Canada, which provides financing to agricultural producers. The rise of potato production in Alberta, as well as Manitoba, is shifting the balance of potato power in this country westward. As of 2022, 45.6 per cent of potato production took place in the Prairies and British Columbia, while 35.7 per cent was in Atlantic Canada and 18.7 per cent in Central Canada, according to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. That year, Alberta ...