News
Elmsdale potato company invests in weighing and bagging equipment
Friday January 17, 2014
ELSMDALE W.P. Griffin will get a combined investment of $372,490 from the provincial and federal governments to purchase new weighing and bagging equipment. Federal Fisheries Minister Gail Shea and provincial Tourism Minister Robert Henderson made the announcement at the potato company's Elmsdale location this morning. "Prince Edward Island farmers have earned a reputation for delivering high-quality potatoes to markets around the world. Investing in new technology will help our industry to stay competitive and allow farmers to increase productivity," said Henderson. The Government of Canada, through ACOA, is investing a total of $323,490 for the equipment and also to help W.P. Griffin market their product and expand their exporting capabilities. W.P Griffin Inc. continues to strive to be a leading innovator in developing new value-added products, opening new markets and employing leading edge technology," said Shea. The Government of Prince Edward Island, through the Department of Innovation and Advanced Learning, and the Department of Agriculture and Forestry's Growing Forward 2 Program, is investing a total of $49,000 towards the purchase of new equipment. "This funding will assist our company enter new markets in the potato industry," said W.P. Griffin president John Griffin. "Our new state-of-the-art equipment is helping us sell our specialty products to some of the largest retail chains in Canada and allowing us to evolve in the industry which helps us remain current."
Launch Marketing Potatoes By Usage
Monday November 4, 2013
Sobeys in Atlantic Canada has introduced a new colour-coded scheme in an attempt to market some Prince Edward Island potatoes. The idea is to make it easier for consumers to choose the right spud, depending on what they want on their plates. Red is for baking. Blue is for mashing. Yellow is for roasting and green is for boiling. The new colour-coded plastic bags of potatoes have already made their debut in Sobeys' stores in Atlantic Canada.
Potato growers counting on a break in the weather
Thursday September 26, 2013
ELMSDALE -- Peter Griffin was breathing a sigh of relief Thursday that a break in the weather was forecast for overnight. After nearly a full week of wet, miserable weather and idle equipment, the operations manager and co-owner of WP Griffin Inc. in Elmsdale was running out of rainy day projects to keep his field crew occupied. Although some growers have already dug a few fields, this was going to be the first big week of the fall harvest for his company and, he suspects, for most other growers. Although there is still a wide-open window for getting the crop out, he admits some panic is already setting in because of delay. "Everybody will have to be pretty busy for the next four to five weeks," the veteran grower acknowledged. Pointing to a relatively good growing season, Griffin is expecting a good crop, at least throughout Prince County. "The profile looks pretty good," he reported. He suggested there might be some scabbing in some varieties because of the hot July weather but he is not expecting that to be much of a factor. If the rain clouds get turned off overnight and the wind stays up to help dry fields out, Griffin said his harvesting equipment could be in the fields by Friday afternoon or Saturday morning. There will be two harvesters going, one for minis and the other for potatoes for processing. "Hopefully this is it," he said about the wet weather. Except for some blips on October 1, 5 and 10, the Weather Network's 14-day trend points to some good harvesting weather ahead. Eric McCarthy Journal Pioneer
Junior Achievement Luncheon Summerside
Thursday September 26, 2013
From left are, Mark O'Keefe, first vice president of the Summerside Chamber of Commerce, Paul Murray, vice-chair of the Junior Achievement P.E.I. board of directors, Wayne McDonald, guest speaker and representing Luncheon sponsor Cavendish Farms, and sponsors; Sarah Millar, Consolidated Credit Union, Peter Griffin, W. P. Griffin Inc., Terry Shea, PEI Mutual. SUMMERSIDE - A high-ranking businessman in one of the largest companies operating in Atlantic Canada said on Wednesday that young people don't think enough about their future. And while that particular kernel of wisdom has probably been true throughout human history - it's becoming ever more poignant in today's world, he added. Wayne McDonald, senior vice president of corporate relations for J.D. Irving Ltd., addressed the annual Junior Achievement lobster luncheon on Wednesday, and following the event, he mused about what challenges he sees young business people facing. The luncheon is one of the largest annual fundraisers for Junior Achievement on P.E.I. and was held at the Summerside Golf and Country Club. Junior Achievement is an international not-for-profit organization that brings experienced business people into contact with teachers and young people through of its after school extracurricular and in-class programs. McDonald is a mentor in the Junior Achievement program and regularly deals with young people who want to become entrepreneurs. And what he sees is a greater need for more young people to plan ahead - starting with what they want to do with their lives. "One of the biggest shortcomings of younger people is not thinking about (their career) early enough. It's never too early to start thinking about it," he said. Grade school is the time young people should be making plans for their future, he added. "That's the time to start exploring things. Getting to know other business people, finding out how they started and finding out what some of the basic skills and basic attributes of being an entrepreneur are really all about," he said. His second piece of advice issue is for young people is to sit down with someone with experience and map out a financial plan in life. "Aligning your lifestyle and your needs in life to your income is probably one of the critical things to do early in life. If you want to live in a high lifestyle travel a lot, live in a nice home or drive a nice car and you don't understand the income level needed to support that, you're going to be a very unhappy person," he said. "It seems over the last number of years young people have gotten away from looking at that until they're 22 or 24, and sometimes that's a late point in life to be thinking about it." That's why Junior Achievement is such an excellent program, added McDonald "Junior Achievement is very well established on P.E.I. They run programs throughout the Island at many different schools. Some school might have all the program offerings, some might only have select offerings - but they all do a great job and they help to teach youth about preparing for life," he said. Paul Murray, incoming chair of the Junior Achievement board of directors on P.E.I., said following the luncheon, that the program is always looking for more volunteers like McDonald. Anyone who believes this might be something they would like to pursue can find more information online at www.prince-edward-island.jacan.org. Kids should get involved, he added, because, like McDonald expressed, there is no age too young to start thinking about your future. "Junior Achievement prepares them for the future, essentially," said Murray. "You see students that have the book smarts and we take them to the next level and try to teach them economics of the real world, so that when they get out of school they are more able to deal with it," he added. Colin.MacLean@JournalPioneer.com @JournalPMacLean
Sobeys Launches Potatoes by Usage Program
Thursday September 19, 2013
W.P. Griffin Inc. is very excited to be part of this new potato by usage program in Canada. Sobeys will be the first retailer in Canada to market Potatoes by Usage. W.P. Griffin Inc. will service Sobeys stores in Atlantic Canada under the Earth Fresh logo while Earth Fresh will service Sobeys stores in Ontario. The Griffin brothers previously participated in a similar bulk program 10 years ago with marketing partner PEI Food Trust. This new and improved program was modelled after a program in New Zealand. The world is becoming a smaller place. Marketing agencies and commercial companies around the world are sharing new ideas. The goal is to make potato selection for the desired meal occasion easier. If you are looking for a potato that is best suited for baking than all you have to do is look for the red bag. Blue is for mashing, yellow for roasting and green is for boiling.
WP Griffin donates $25,000 to the Western Hospital Foundation Campaign
Sunday June 30, 2013
Brothers Peter and John Griffin, representing WP Griffin Inc. present cheque to Cletus Dunn, Western Hospital Foundation Campaign Co-Chair. The goal of the campaign, known as the Healthcare Equipment Legacy Project (HELP), is to raise $600,000 for the purchase of a new diagnostic digital imaging X-ray machine. The demand for diagnostics evaluation is critical in order to obtain accurate information prior to developing an appropriate treatment plan for patients, the foundation points out. Campaign co-chair, Cletus Dunn, reviewed the two and a half month campaign which was launched April 15. Close to $400,000 was pledged that day, including $165,000 from the provincial government and $100,000 from the campaign's leader sponsor, Tignish Credit Union and $25,000 from Gold sponsor WP Griffin Inc.
