Wallace McCain, who founded the Canadian frozen food giant McCain Foods with his brother, has died of pancreatic cancer, his family says.
McCain, 81, was at his home in Toronto when he died Friday, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported.
Mccain and his brother Harrison, sons of a seed potato exporter in Florenceville, New Brunswick, opened a french fries plant there in 1956. They expanded quickly, and McCain Foods now does business in 44countries and is the largest producer of frozen french fries in the world.
In the 1990s, the brothers began a feud that turned into a lengthy legal battle. Wallace left McCain Foods and became chairman of Maple Leaf Foods, a meat processor where his son now serves as chief
executive officer. Harrison died in 2004.
New Brunswick Premier David Alward paid tribute to the family as creators of jobs in the province.
"That is a testament to the McCain family's staunch faith in and loyalty to our home province," Alward said in a statement. "It also demonstrates the McCains' unshakable dedication to the well-being of
people of New Brunswick. For that, the McCain family can be assured that all New Brunswickers are deeply grateful to them."