Ore-Ida frozen fried potatoes keep 170 employees busy at Ontario plant

The March 5, 1953 edition of The Argus Observer reported that Oregon Frozen Foods in Ontario was keeping 170 employees busy cutting potatoes into “Ore-Ida” French fries and freezing them to be sent to retail markets across the country.

Nephi Grigg, general manager of the plant, told the newspaper that his plant had the capacity to process 100 carloads of potatoes a month, about 25 percent of the local crop.

The story also indicated that “no. 2” potatoes could be used for the process, providing a market for potatoes that might otherwise be discarded.

The Ontario plant was producing a product that was “something new for the industry,” the story noted. “The housewife needs only to reheat (the fries) and they are table ready.”