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Syrup sales through the roof at retail this fall
Peter Gregg | October 14, 2020
WOODSTOCK, Vt.—There’s a maple gold rush this fall.
“Our mail order has been through the roof,” said Ralph Luce of Sugarbush Farm in Woodstock, Vt. “We would typically see maybe 40 orders per month, we’re now getting 150 or more.”
Luce and the entire Luce family were scrambling over Columbus Day weekend tending to the crush of tourists to the 10,000-tap mountaintop farm, flocking to buy syrup and cheese and see the spectacular foilage.
“We’ll have thousands here this weekend,” Luce said, during a tour for The Maple News.
He said crowds were coming from more regional locations like New York and Boston, theorizing that tourists were opting for local fall vacations due to the pandemic.
Crowds were good about wearing masks, Luce said.
“We’re trying to keep people outside and spread out,” he said.
Luce said since the spring syrup sales have been stronger than ever.
[ MORE ]
States press on with fall maple events
Peter Gregg | October 6, 2020
SYRACUSE, N.Y.—Instead of apples and pumpkins, how about maple syrup?
States across the Maple Belt will be participating in a “Fall in Love with Maple” open house event throughout October, competing with traditional fall agritourism events.
“This year has been everything but normal, but one thing that has remained the same is the sweet golden syrup that we can celebrate as the autumn leaves color up,” said Helen Thomas, executive director of the New York State Maple Producers Association.
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Birch season in U.S. down over last year
Peter Gregg | August 2, 2020
LAKE PLACID, N.Y.—The U.S. birch season was largely a bust this spring.
"At our facility and from what I have heard from many others, we had below average birch yields due to very cold weather and lack of rainfall in late April and early May," said Michael Farrell of The Forest Farmers in Mansfield, Vt. who oversees production on one of the largest birch operations in the U.S. with 16,000 taps.
"We also only tapped a portion of our trees in NY and none in Vermont due to issues around COVID."
Most producers said their production of birch, known as the little brother crop to maple, was off mostly due to bad weather.
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Soaking old sap in pans an effective cleaner
Peter Gregg | July 14, 2020
HEBRON, N.Y.—It’s nasty and stinks but it works.
The old school way of pan cleaning after a season—letting last-day-of-the-season sap soak in the pans for five or six months—has been a proven method.
This season at The Maple News sugarhouse in Hebron, N.Y. we tried it for the second year in a row. We have had success after much smell enduring.
In April, we filled our pans and Steam-Away with skunked sap to the brim.
Through the spring, a bubbling, green, oozing crust grew like a science experiment.
By early July it transformed into an almost pleasant, brown cidery vinegar. [ MORE ]
Aunt Jemima brand of 'pancake' syrup to be discontinued
Peter Gregg | June 25, 2020
PURCHASE, N.Y.—The number one competitor of pure maple syrup—Aunt Jemima—will soon be no longer.
The fake syrup category leader has fallen to the Black Lives Matter movement and the brand will be discontinued, according to the corn syrup’s parent company, The Quaker Oats Company, owned by Pepsi Co.
“We recognize Aunt Jemima's origins are based on a racial stereotype,” said Kristin Kroepfl, Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Quaker Foods North America.
The company said it will remove the image of Aunt Jemima from its packaging and change the name of the brand sometime next year.
[ MORE ]
Syrup producer making hand sanitizer in response to crisis
Peter Gregg | May 7, 2020
JEFFERSON, Ohio—Hand sanitizer could be the latest value-added crop from maple.
One Ohio producer is waiting for FDA approval to start distilling commercial grade syrup into ethanol as part of a recipe for a maple-based hand sanitizer.
“The demand for hand sanitizers is ridiculous,” said Nathan Bissell of Bissell Maple Farms in Jefferson, Ohio.
Meanwhile, Bissell has converted his idled syrup packing line into a hand sanitizer packing line, responding to the COVID-19 crisis and high demand for the virus killing product. [ MORE ]
Bascom's reopens for drum deliveries
Peter Gregg | May 4, 2020
ALSTEAD, N.H.—Bascom Maple Farms reopened their docks today, allowing sugarmakers to bring their crop for delivery, but by appointment only.
“Due to the unusually large amount of drum traffic yet to come in we are requesting producers call for a dock appointment,” said Bascom’s owner Bruce Bascom.
Field buyers for Bascom will also be deployed this week, and will be looking for syrup. [ MORE ]
Spring tick season expected to 'explode'
Peter Gregg | April 30, 2020
MIDDLEBURY, Vt.—Tick activity this spring is expected to explode, according to a Vermont sugarmaker and power lineman who trains personnel on tick safety.
“Springtime, April and May, we usually see a large tick explosion,” said Michael Christian, a sugarmaker from Orwell, Vt. and a crew manager for the state’s Green Mountain Power company, who has spent decades fighting ticks and establishing safety protocols for power line crews.
“By the end of June or July they go back in the ground,” Christian said. “Then they come back in September to feed again.”
Christian led a seminar at the Addison County Maple Conference in January where sugarmakers shared their defensive tactics and horror stories of other sugarmakers contracting Lyme disease and other chronic illnesses associated with tick bites.
[ MORE ]
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