Plainview, Minnesota produces canned and frozen vegetables for retail and foodservice channels. Private Brand supplier of high-quality frozen vegetables and canned vegetables to the retail, foodservice, and industrial sectors. With corporate headquarters in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, and ten plants and eight distribution centers in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Ohio, our locations place us close to our fie
lds, assuring fresh product to our customers. In 1887, Albert Landreth recognized that Wisconsin soil could produce superior quality peas. He began operating out of a small hotel on the shores of Lake Michigan in Manitowoc – the humble founding of Lakeside Foods. In 1922, Lakeside Packing Company acquired the original wooden structure of the Watertown Canning Company plant in Plainview, Minnesota which processed peas and pickles. After the acquisition, the Plainview, Minnesota plant was targeted for a complete rebuild and remodel. The Board of Directors approved a $15,000 capital expenditure to rebuild the entire plant, prior to the 1923 production season. Plainview plant superintendent Albert Wild oversaw a building program that would replace wooden structures with concrete and tile. In 1923, the Plainview plant started processing corn, the only company plant to process corn. The Lakeside Plainview plant helped the U.S. military during World War II, by producing canned vegetables for the Quartermaster Corps of the U.S. In 1943, the company built heated warehousing to store a portion of its product, sending 60% of its production overseas. The plant experienced challenges during World War II. The first challenge was the U.S. government imposing restrictions on the use of any materials that could be diverted to the armed services. The company received word that it could only pack some of its products in cans, as steel and tin was to be used in armament for all branches of the military. Some of the products had to packed in glass jars. The second challenge during WW II was an acute labor shortage, especially during the busy summer months. Both the labor shortages and material shortages were met. During the pea pack, Plainview workers loaded pea vines onto trucks with hay loaders and hauled them to the pea vinery station at the plant. In 1949, Lakeside purchased cutting equipment from Hume Company. Prior to 1949, farmers cut peas with their own mowers. The Plainview location continued to invest in innovation in 1950s. In 1953, the Plainview plant experimented with mechanical corn harvesters, which replaced hand harvesting, which meant the company could drastically cut its costs and harvest thousands of acres of corn more efficiently than ever before. In 1954, the first continuous cookers were installed in the plant. As the Plainview Plant entered the Age of Aquarius, the company continued to invest in innovation from 1964-1967. Stationary vinery stations were replaced by mobile pea combines, again replacing hand harvesting. In 1973, $2,000,000 was invested to build a new warehouse and a new corn processing room. In 1975, the plant began canning meat for the USDA. The plant diversified its packaging by investing in frozen packaging equipment and computerized corn cutters in 1982. Between 1983-1987, three new warehouses were built with one being a cold storage facility. The company continues to invest in its Plainview location and today it produces canned corn, peas, lima beans, and canned meat. On the frozen side, the plant produces corn and peas. Lakeside reserves the right to edit all information placed on this page.
