LUTSEN, Minn.—Twenty six below is not exactly ideal tapping weather.

“Yeah we got a cold spell so we're sitting and waiting, chomping at the bit to get back out there,” said Kirstin van den Berg of Sawtooth Mountain Maple Syrup Co. in Lutsen, Minn.

van den Berg said she and her crew of six tappers were humming along for a 7 day stretch of good weather, getting about 14,000 drilled before the cold snap came and shut them down the past couple of days.

“We’re taking a break,” she told The Maple News on Tuesday.

She said the temps in her area of the Upper Midwest should go back up above the 20 degree mark, where most experts say is the line for tapping.  Tapping in temps colder than that can split trees.

van den Berg has another 14,000 to go.  But her season doesn’t typically start until March and she’s made syrup as late as Mother’s Day.

“As soon as the weather becomes nice again we will be out there in our snowshoes,” she said.

Her story was like many across the entire Maple Belt as a long stretch of cold weather and no sap had producers who were hoping and maybe even expecting an early start to the season were instead disappointed.

Meanwhile, the maple industry is booming despite the pandemic. In fact, it could be because of it.

“The current increase in home consumption of syrup will persist,” said Jean Lamontagne, executive director the International Maple Syrup Institute, during a webinar hosted by the Vermont Maple Sugar Makers Association last month.

Lamontagne said volume gains at grocery have been substantial, with sales up over 20 percent.

“Consumers have acquired new eating habits with large breakfasts,” he said.  “And people are eating close to home.  That’s a positive for the industry.”

He said online sales of syrup and maple products have been through the roof as well.

“I think maple businesses who can keep up their marketing online can increase their competitive advantage over bigger players,” he said.

Ed Fox, the CEO of Butternut Mountain Farms in Morrisville, Vt. and one of the nation’s biggest bulk buyers agreed.

“Covid has been good for the grocery industry,” he said during the webinar.

Fox said the work-from-home trend will continue after the pandemic is over, meaning more good news for maple consumption.

“There are significant opportunities for growth in consumption,” he said.

On the bulk market side, Quebec reportedly still has a sizable inventory in its Strategic Reserve to meet the increased demand.

“The Quebec Federation has such a huge inventory to sell that even if the US has a poorer crop, there will not be a shortage in 2021,” said Bruce Bascom, owner of Bascom Maple Farms in Alstead, N.H. and one of the nation’s biggest bulk syrup buyers.

“Price will increase some I think but only modestly,” Bascom told The Maple News on Tuesday.