McCain Foods Co-Founder Wallace McCain Passes Away

Wallace McCain, co-founder of McCain Foods, passed away May 13th after a 14-month battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 81.

McCain co-founded McCain Foods in his hometown of Florenceville, New Brunswick, Canada, with his brother Harrison just as frozen convenience items were starting to become a broad market category, and the company soon established a strong niche in the frozen French fry market. Today it is the world's largest supplier of frozen French fries, though Wallace McCain left the company in the mid-1990s after a falling out with Harrison.

He then purchased controlling interest in processed meats maker Maple Leaf Foods, based in Toronto, eventually turing the company around into one of Canada's major food companies.

Wallace McCain was born April 9, 1930, in Florenceville, to Laura and Andrew Dean McCain, owner of a successful seed potato business. He earned degrees in math and economics from Mount Allison University.