HASTINGS, June 26 — The Green Party believes the Government should explore purchasing a closing McCain food-processing plant in Hastings, arguing the facility may qualify as a strategic asset worth public investment for national food security. McCann announced in March it would shutter its Hastings vegetable-processing operation in 2027. The plant is scheduled to cease operations on January 31, 2027, following that year’s processing and packing season.
The closure puts jobs at risk and has drawn political attention in the Tukituki electorate, where not every candidate agrees on a government buyout. Hastings Mayor Wendy Schollum and Central Hawke’s Bay Mayor Will Foley jointly asked McCain to pause the closure while growers sought a possible takeover solution.
The company turned them down at the end of May. Greens MP Steve Abel, who serves on the Primary Production Committee, was asked during a recent Hastings visit what his party would do about food-processing plant closures in Hawke’s Bay and across the country. Abel said food resilience and security rank as high priorities for the Greens.
“We are not averse to the idea that there are instances where strategic assets, such as a food-processing facility, should be protected for the broader national good, and if that means some public investment, so be it,” Abel said. The Greens do not yet have a specific policy on the McCain plant.
Abel described the issue as top of the party’s mind. “The challenges that we’re facing with loss of mills and food-processing facilities with the energy price issues – we have specific strategies to address all of those things.” “It would be a failure of politic,” Abel said, before the source material cuts off. The Hastings plant processes vegetables for McCain’s frozen-food lines.
The facility’s closure represents the latest in a series of food-processing shutdowns that Abel cited as a pattern linked to energy cost pressures. The Greens have not detailed what form a government purchase or investment might take, nor have they estimated a potential cost. The proposal is not universally supported among candidates running for Parliament in Tukituki, the electorate that includes the plant.
The source material does not name which candidates oppose the idea or detail their objections. McCain, a global frozen-food company headquartered in Canada, has not indicated any willingness to reverse its closure decision beyond rejecting the mayors’ pause request.
The timeline shows the company announced the shutdown in March, local leaders sought a delay in late May, and the plant now has a firm closing date of January 31, 2027. What comes next: The Greens would need to develop a formal policy proposal and secure coalition support to advance any government purchase. Growers in the region continue to seek alternative arrangements, though the source material does not specify whether any buyer has emerged.
The plant’s closure date remains fixed for now, with the 2026-2027 processing season expected to be its last.
