Pineland Farms Potato inks deal to supply 28 Sam's Club stores
File photo / James McCarthy
Rodney McCrum, president and chief operating officer at Pineland Farms Naturally Potatoes Co., in a 2015 file photo.
Mars Hill-based Pineland Farms Potato Co. announced Thursday it has signed a contract to supply 28 Sam’s Club stores in the Northeast with its refrigerated potato products.
In a press release announcing the deal, Rodney McCrum, president and chief operating officer of Pineland Farms Potato Co., said delivery of the company’s products to Sam’s Club stores would begin within a month.
"It's a foot in the door for us," he said in a telephone interview Thursday afternoon. "Our hope is that we expand into more Sam's Club stores in the future."
McCrum credited U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, who grew up in Aroostook County, with playing a key role by arranging a meeting between him and Rosalind Brewer, president and CEO of Sam’s Club. He’s hopeful it will lead to additional opportunities with the Walmart division that reported revenues of $58 billion in fiscal year 2015 and has 649 stores nationwide.
“Thanks to Sen. Collins’ idea about increasing our distribution through Sam’s Club, and introduction to Sam’s Club, Pineland Farms potato products caught the eye of this prominent national food chain,” he said in the press release sent out by Collins office. “This new partnership will help us continue to create jobs for young men and women across Aroostook County.”
Founded in 1995 by McCrum and a dozen other Aroostook potato farmers, Pineland Farms Potato has achieved double-digit yearly growth since 2010, reaching $35 million in sales in 2014. Earlier this year, it completed a $7.5 million expansion doubling its storage-and-production capacity, which included a $1 million upgrade to the packaging line.
The company also launched this year a $3 million upgrade of its mashed potato production line, he added.
McCrum reported the company's employment now stands at 180 workers, with 60 new jobs added since August 2014, and noted sales are running 38% ahead of the same period a year ago.
Asked how this year's harvest has been for Aroostook's potato farmers, McCrum replied, "It's a good year and a good crop."
Pineland Farms' mashed potatoes are served in Applebee's, Logan's Roadhouse, 99 Restaurant & Pub, O'Charley's, Pizzeria Uno and Famous Dave's. Packaged mashed potatoes and cut potatoes bearing the Pineland Farms brand are sold in supermarkets like Publix, Hannaford, Market Basket, Shop Rite and Big Y.
In 2013, Pineland Farms Potato Co. purchased the Pineland Farms Creamery, which produces a line of award-winning cheeses, from the Libra Foundation. Although its line of cheeses were not part of the distribution contract, McCrum said Pineland Farms hopes to eventually add Sam's Club to the food outlets carrying its cheese.
Collins said in the release the contract showcases the best of Maine — “all-natural ingredients and small-scale agriculture” — and expands Pineland Farms’ reach into supermarkets throughout New England.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to include comments from Rodney McCrum, who was unavailable when Mainebiz called him earlier in the day.
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