Global food producer McCain has announced it will close its vegetable processing plant in Hastings by January 2027, pointing to the tough financial pressures for manufacturers when a business can no longer stay viable.
The decision follows an internal review of the site, where the company said it explored a range of options to strengthen the plant’s long-term position. Despite those efforts, McCain concluded it could not identify a sustainable pathway under the current model.
Rather than continuing to operate at a loss or rely on uncertain conditions, the company will instead transition to sourcing vegetable products through trusted supply partners within its broader global network.
Production at the Hastings facility will continue through the remainder of the current processing and packing season, with McCain confirming it will honour all existing contractual commitments.
McCain has not disclosed how many workers or growers will be affected by the closure.
The announcement underscores the pressures facing the agricultural and food processing sectors, where businesses must remain competitive and efficient in order to survive. According to Federated Farmers Hawke’s Bay provincial president Jim Galloway, the shutdown would have a “massive impact” on local growers.
“There’s a huge amount of growers that grow for McCain in the Hawke’s Bay area.”
He explained that many growers, particularly those producing peas, beans, and sweet corn, typically secure contracts around mid-year before beginning planting in August and September. However, those plans could be at risk if the Hastings processing plant closes at the end of January, as expected by the company.
“Some of those crops aren’t normally harvested until January, February and as late as April.
“So, it’s only the peas that they make take next year.
“It’s a massive hit for a lot of farmers in the Hawke’s Bay area and further down into central Hawke’s Bay and across through to Manawatū.”
The move comes amid wider uncertainty in New Zealand’s vegetable processing industry, with Wattie’s also proposing to stop all production of frozen vegetable lines in the country, a change that would affect 220 growers in Canterbury.