Thank you.
Good morning. My name is Peter Johnston. I'm the director of quality assurance for Cavendish Farms. I focus on food safety and regulatory within our company. I've worked for Cavendish for just over seven years. I've been in the food industry for just over 20 years.
Cavendish Farms is a proud family-owned Canadian company with roots in Atlantic Canada. Our operations began in 1980 in Prince Edward Island. That year we shipped 25 truckloads of product a week. In 2015 we shipped 728 truckloads a week. Cavendish Farms is the fastest-growing retail brand in Canada. For the past two years, most of North America's quick-service restaurants have been our clients. We are also one of the largest private-label packers for many retailers and food service suppliers.
Aside from providing products for the U.S. and Canadian marketplaces, we export to more than 50 countries around the world. We are the fourth-largest frozen potato processor in North America. We have four plants in Canada and one in the United States. We produce more than 1.46 billion pounds of finished product a year. Our current market share in the TPP countries ranges anywhere from nothing to about 3.5%. However, as you'll hear later, we do see opportunity in these markets if the TPP is ratified. Duty rates range from 0% to 40% within TPP countries.
I did bring a handout with me. There are additional details within that handout. I do apologize, but I wasn't able to get it translated very quickly.
Our duty rates on french fries and frozen potato products are currently the same as in the United States. If the United States ratifies the TPP agreement and Canada doesn't, Canadian processors will be at a significant disadvantage. Processors in the U.S. have a slight edge with logistical advantages, as they are closer to ports for shipping and require fewer days in transit. To be competitive, we cannot allow any additional barriers to these potential markets.
I can offer some examples of export challenges in the TPP countries. In Japan, the number one importer of frozen potato products outside of North America, there are non-traditional requirements on food safety and quality. They also require very specific packaging and labelling. In Mexico, one of the top three markets for imports of frozen potato products, they recently passed new laws that require unique packaging as well for retail packaging compared with the rest of the world. In Malaysia, market and cultural sensitivities require unique SKUs, or stock-keeping units. In Chile and Peru, where we believe import opportunities are significant, non-traditional barriers to trade exist, including microbiologic and inorganic tests that are not required in other markets and not traditionally done in the industry. Their process to register a new product is bureaucratic and time-consuming. It can take up to a year to register a product.
In order for Canadian frozen potato products to be competitive, increase exports, and not lose existing market share in TPP countries, the Government of Canada must ratify the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement.
Thank you.