Six Generations of Growing Potatoes

Founded in 1886 in Mars Hill, Maine, McCrum is a sixth-generation family company with deep roots in the potato industry. What began as a single-family farm has grown into a diversified agricultural business throughout Maine.

Under the leadership of CEO and President Jay McCrum, who started farming with his wife Sue in 1972 on 60 acres of rented land, the McCrum farming operation has grown to more than 5,000 acres of potatoes and 10,000 acres of rotation crops. This rotation-based approach supports soil health and sustainable production for future generations. In 2004, the family expanded into manufacturing with the purchase of Penobscot Frozen Foods in Belfast, Maine, and in 2020 opened a state-of-the-art French fry processing facility in Washburn, Maine. In 2025, McCrum sold the Washburn facility to McCain Foods. The McCrum family farming operation remains independently owned and supplies McCain through a long-term partnership.

McCrum remains a family business at heart. Generations of partners, including brothers, sons, and nephews, have helped build the company over more than five decades. McCrum is committed to quality, sustainability, and the long-term strength of the potato industry, and is proud to be a Sustaining Partner of the World Potato Congress.