LONGUEIL, Que—Don’t believe the hype.

 

A flurry of national news reports this week—including on NBC’s Today Show broadcast yesterday—proclaimed there is a shortage of Canadian syrup.

 

Not true, says the Quebec maple producers federation.

 

“There’s no shortage at all,” said Helene Normandin, spokeswoman for the Quebec Maple Syrup Producers.

 

That’s not to say that syrup hasn’t been moving.  In fact, it’s selling like hotcakes.

 

The federation’s Strategic Reserve has been drained of 50 million pounds since the beginning of this year, most of it sold in the United States, which had its worst crop in 10 years.

 

But there is still another 50 million pounds left in the warehouses near Montreal that make up the Reserve, Normandin said.

 

“We still have half of it,” she said.

 

She could not account for the percentage of the reserve that was table grade, but was very confident there was enough syrup to last until the new 2022 season starts.  There was zero amounts of organic syrup left, however.

 

As for the media coverage of the so-called Canadian “shortage,” which also appeared on CNN, the New York Post, the BBC and many other big news outlets, Normandin could not explain the sudden interest.

 

“I can say some media are fascinated with the reserve,” Normandin said.

 

Meanwhile, the overall maple industry is white hot.

 

In the U.S. market, there actually seems to be a shortage, or at least it has been hard to find syrup in large quantities of U.S. produced syrup.  The sugarmaker to sugarmaker market in the U.S. is running dry, with most producers nearing the end of their 2021 crop.

 

Bruce Bascom of Bascom Maple Farms in Alstead, N.H. and one of the biggest bulk buyers in the nation is currently paying upwards of $2.60 per pound, with another 20 cent premium for organic.

 

Still, he did not seem worried about getting through the holiday season or carrying over to next season since he is one of the big buyers of the Canadian reserve.