What do you so with all the syrup! 1st year 10 taps, 2nd year 50 taps, 3rd 150!

[Starting Small]

So I have noticed many new people seem to jump from 10 taps to well over 100 in 3 years or so. I am curious what you are doing with your syrup. have you developed a market that quickly to move that much syrup retail or are you selling it wholesale? That is my biggest concern is selling the syrup that I worked so hard to make if I want to grow in a few years.

[spud]

I am assuming you use buckets. With 150 taps you could stand to make 40 gallons or so. If I was you I would bottle it up in quart or smaller containers. You should be able to sell it to your friends, coworker's, people at your church and even your friends could help you sell to some of their friends. You should have no problem getting rid of it.

Spud

[Stamford sugarmaker]

When I first started doing this my mentor said, "Keep it small". I have followed his advice and make about 10 gallons a year.

If I had to sell it I would have to charge about three hundred dollars a gallon because that's probably the bean counters formula on the hours it takes to produce the syrup. We just give it away to family and friends. It works for us.

Peter

[bowtie]

i plan on selling it locally, hopefully i will sell all i want to, and if i can not sell it at retail i will sell it bulk. i'm in the same situation as you but 1 yr ahead. i know it's "hard work" but it also fun and gets me outside and active. i really enjoy it so far and if it gets to the point of not being fun, which i doubt, i will make a couple gallons for family and friends. i hope to be at 250 taps next year. i do not see a problem "getting rid" of syrup, as in any thing as new people come in others with leave, and with the recent surge in the demand for locally produced and grown products the market should be good.

[fishman]

I made about 12 gallons last year (my best) and I sold two gallons and gave the rest away to family and friends. Wish I wouldn't have sold tose gallons now because I just opened my last quart. I think I've gained friends since I started a few years ago.

[spencer11]

i made my biggest jump this year to 80ish taps. hoping for 250 next year. in the past i have sold it in pint mason jars to friends and people i know in town. im going to quarts and possibly 1/2 gal. this year to. last year i made about 4 gallons(after i burned some). i had it all sold about 2 weeks after the season was over and had people asking for more.

spencer

[Tweegs]

We sell much of it through work, but we hit the farmers markets, craft shows and other local events. We make sure that every bottle that leaves our hands comes with a business card attached.

Once the shack is complete (not this season) we’ll add a sign at the end of the driveway, open on weekends, to generate gate sales and take some of the hassle out of the booth sales scene.

I’ve got 2 gallons left out of the 30 we made last year. It’s a bit of leg work to get started, but I have no doubts we’ll get repeat customers.

[Ausable]

When I first started doing this my mentor said, "Keep it small". I have followed his advice and make about 10 gallons a year.

If I had to sell it I would have to charge about three hundred dollars a gallon because that's probably the bean counters formula on the hours it takes to produce the syrup. We just give it away to family and friends. It works for us.

Peter

Peter - I'm in full agreement with You. I'm retired and I look forward to making it and giving it away to Family and Friends. I could make more money being a Wal-Mart Greeter then making Maple Syrup. I suppose if You had a large Family Sugarbush and making Maple had been a Family Business through the Generations - You - Would almost have a Moral Obligation to keep it going. Glad I'm not in that trap. Some of the Family does help with the Sap and I sure like watching my little Great-grandkids eating Old Poppa's maple syrup on their pan cakes and vanilla ice cream. Is it worth the effort? You Bet and I will continue to make it till I can't --lol-------Mike---

[Starting Small]

I definitely agree. I guess I was just trying to figure out if people suddenly started advertising, or word of mouth or putting something on craigslist, or farmers markets to sell what 150 taps would give them.

[sugaringman85]

at 150 taps you should have no problem getting rid of your syrup...maybe hard the first year but once people get hooked on your syrup you never have an issue with selling the syrup. I made 558 gallons this year and have all but 40 sold. It was also 200 gallons more than i made the year before. It took a little more marketing but I had over half of it sold straight from the sugar house. Once people get hooked you've got them for long term customers that will keep coming back. Hardest part is getting them into the sugar house, after that its easy!

[highlandcattle]

No easy answer. We bought our farm back in 1996, 1/2 pasture, 1/2 forest with maple. Spent the time building a pole barn for the animals and a place for us. Ron had always done this as a kid, so he knew what to do. With a friend made a cobjob unit, but great syrup! Next year a 1/2 pint brand new, still too small, used buckets. Gave it away to family and friends. Then moved up to a used Grimm Lightning 2x4. great setup, but we were now selling enough to justify taking the next step. Yes, scary.( Expensive for us, maybe not to others), Farmers markets, a local co-op, co-workersi etc. Can't keep up now. Last year, with investing in tubing, vacuum, custom made 2x8 CDL woodfired evaporator and about 250 taps, we made 65 gallons. We price it reasonable, so people can afford it, but we can make money. Sold out in Sept. Held back 10 gallons for fall and winter sales, ran out! Anything we make this year is already spoken for! We have our daughter, who is computer savy design our labels, we use mason jars for some places, people like the old fashioned look, and jugs for others. Have given many away to various organizations for fundraisers, benefits, etc. I make up the nips for sample bottles. This year hoping to pass 100 gallons and make back our investment. My husband is clever to be able to figure out all the setup and I handle the sales and marketing. We're small and will stay that way, too old for anymore. He loves it and we keep the farm in ag district. So we all win. Let people taste it and know what they're getting, then it's easy! Have fun... sap runnning 2%

[wnybassman]

I average about 5 or 6 gallons a year, but last year made 9 or so. I give a fair share away to friends and family, give some away as donations for door prizes and silent auctions for some banquets I attend, and general bartering for favors and/or other things people have that I want to barter for. Works out pretty good all around. Don't know if/when I'll get any bigger, pretty content with the size right now. Some day I might like to put a roof over my head though. lol

[Starting Small]

Wondering what ways in 2013 you guys who are rapidly expanding plan on moving all of your extra syrup that your increase in taps will give you. I will be at 50 taps this year and it will be my first year really tring to sell what I have. I am going to be involved in a farmers market this Spring where I will be selling not only syrup but also honey left over from last year. My beekeeping hobby has grown to the point where word of mouth is not keeping up with production so that is why the market will be my next step. Anyone seen much success using websites, craigslist, or facebook?

[adk1]

Syrup makes great gifts for jsut about any occasion. I kept half of what I made last year and sold the rest. Only takes one good outlet to see your extra syrup and you are set.

[Starting Small]

ADK, what outlet did you sell it through? Ideally I would like to make a few bucks on the side instead of giving it away. Seems like many people new tgo maple make big jumps each year.

[maple flats]

Sell from your house, the sugarhouse, at work and get a web site. I don't even have an order form on my web site, but I give them my phone number, mailing address and email. I get new customers regularly, and once they buy, if they like your product, most will be return customers.
I have one customer, in Kansas who is my best return customer. The first order was 3 gal, then every several months they started buying 4 gal at a time. This past week the ordered 8 gal (It ended up being a mother/father and 3 grown kids with families ordering together. Get a few customers like this and you will do well. While I have lots of return customers, most are local and most buy just a qt up to 2 gal at a time. Make sure on every container you sell, you have a label to tell them where to get more. You can also set up in stores. I've only had 3 that I used in the past, 2 were good, 1 not. I now only have 1 outlet as such. I offered consignment or outright purchase (different prices), they preferred to just buy it. They order about 3-4 months supply at a time, an assortment adding up to between $200-300. I give them 15% off my retail, and I deliver. If they had chosen consignment, I only offered 10% commission.
150 gal should be no issue selling.
Over the years the only bulk I have sold was in 2008 when the prices skyrocketed and I sold some B and Commercial at $3/lb. Had I waited a month or 2 the price jumped to $4/lb. This being said, I may well sell some bulk this year if the season is good, since I could have 6-700 gal and my previous best was only 233 gal, due to expansion in the last 2 years. I'd still keep about 300 gal, figuring my sales will continue to grow. Of my 233 I have less than 20 gal left, and I need to pack some more this week to ship another 4 gal order out, plus my shelves are almost empty, no qts, 1 half gal and 2 gal B, then a few pts and half pts. The season will be on soon and my supply will shoot up.

[Tweegs]

If you get to the farmers market, have some for folks to sample. As a kicker, we would have some Log cabin or Mrs. Butterworth’s for them to try after they had the good stuff.

We always had them try the bad stuff last. If they try it first and they’re used to eating it, to them it tastes OK, but the good stuff is better.

If they try the good stuff first, the bad stuff tastes like crap.

Never let them leave the booth thinking the bad stuff tastes OK.

[sugarman3]

Made 605 gallons last season and still bought 265 gallons and i am sold out rght now,need to keep expanding

[happy thoughts]

Wondering what ways in 2013 you guys who are rapidly expanding plan on moving all of your extra syrup that your increase in taps will give you. I will be at 50 taps this year and it will be my first year really tring to sell what I have. I am going to be involved in a farmers market this Spring where I will be selling not only syrup but also honey left over from last year. My beekeeping hobby has grown to the point where word of mouth is not keeping up with production so that is why the market will be my next step. Anyone seen much success using websites, craigslist, or facebook?

I started this thread last year and got some pretty interesting replies. Maybe you don't need to sell your excess per se. You could try bartering for things you need and would otherwise pay for or work hard to get. Like firewood, or a sheep, for instance :).

http://mapletrader.com/community/showthread.php?12082-Bartering-with-syrup

[red maples]

you will have no problem selling it I promise you. Put up a sign people will come!!!! have an open house people will come. I went from 25 taps to 250 in one year (had a bad year my first year lost power for 7 days got flooded out due to heavy rains and beavers backing things up had to dump 150 gallons of sap that got contaminated with swamp water tough one!!!) anyway still managed to make 30 gallons some how I was sold out by the fall. Just start out with pints and quarts. Find out a good price for you area and sell only retail. Don't sell wholesale or bulk just retail to friends co workers etc. if you go a little bigger someday then I would invest in some liability ins. It should cost you somewhere around $500 for a $1 mil policy. that should also cover your sugarhouse if you have one and your equipment as well. Good luck. and if anyone falls or gets hurt if they visit your place. its just a good idea to have.

[Nodda Duma]

Hi I'm going from 20 to ~100 in my third winter of tapping ever (moved from the desert) so I'm right in line with your statistic.

The local sugar shack owner said he will be happy to take extra sap and trade for syrup (probably at a rate that'll still make him some money). I believe he does that with several local tappers.

You may want to talk to a local sugar shack and do some good old fashioned bartering.

[motowbrowne]

Anyone who uses maple syrup will appreciate the unique flavor of syrup and variety from batch to batch, year to year available from the small guys. As a producer, finding a number of families like this will ensure your market easily. We've sold out of syrup every year for the last 25 years. If I had a lot extra I'd think about online marketing. I even see syrup for sale on eBay. It's also possible to get a good price for shipping syrup cross-country, even after shipping costs. The retail price of maple syrup on the shelf in a lot of the country is pretty high, so people who really like maple syrup will take the opportunity to place an order from a small producer who can supply their 5 gallons a year for a price that works for everyone. Someone else in this thread mentioned that, and it only takes a couple of people like that to start spreading the word and sharing the syrup. I've found that maple syrup is very effective at selling itself. Once you can get them to try a sample, they'll often buy a little and keep coming back.

[Starting Small]

Looks like I may be answering my own question...So I decided to make a Facebook page for my syrup and honey. Well today is really the first day it is up and running and I have already sold 3 quarts of syrup and 9 pounds of honey since about 2:00 this afternoon. Looks like I may need to get bigger afterall!

[newman_maple]

This is my 6th year of producing enough to sell. The first couple years, I had trouble selling most of it so I sold some on eBay. I still try to keep a few gallons extra on hand in case we have a bust year, but word of mouth and selling in the local grocery store, a feed store, and a health food store helps a lot. I set up at one event each fall, but it is not a major event. I donate some to my Legion Post for Bingo door prizes and I give some to the Legion Auxiliary for raffles. I am sure I will get to the point when I run out each year. I am in an area where very few produce syrup (which may have some benefit), but many if not most of my customers are new to maple syrup. I have made several connections using Facebook. If you get people to follow it, they learn what it takes to make it.