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Dill
08-31-2012, 08:27 PM
Really no one has posted this?

Police probing Quebec maple syrup heist worth up to $30-million

KIM MACKRAEL and RITA TRICHUR

The Globe and Mail

Published Thursday, Aug. 30 2012, 6:23 PM EDT

Quebec police are on the hunt for a sticky-fingered thief after millions of dollars of maple syrup vanished from a Quebec warehouse.

The theft was discovered during a routine inventory check last week at the St-Louis-de-Blandford warehouse, where the syrup is being held temporarily. The Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers, which is responsible for the global strategic maple syrup reserve, initially kept the news quiet, hoping it would help police solve the crime quickly.
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About 10 million pounds of syrup was stored at the site, at a value of more than $30-million.

Anne-Marie Granger Godbout, executive director of the federation, said the organization is still trying to determine how much is missing and declined to offer an estimate. But a spokesman from the Sureté du Québec said the loss was significant.

“We know that it’s millions of dollars that was stolen,” said Sergeant Richard Gagné. “It’s a very large amount.”

All of the maple syrup inventories are fully insured, according to the federation, so there will be no loss to producers.

Ms. Granger Godbout said the theft shouldn’t put the global supply of maple syrup at risk, but warned it could allow the thief to undercut legitimate producers. The federation represents about 10,000 maple syrup producers in Quebec. “Obviously those people stole the maple syrup to sell it somewhere,” she said. “If it’s a big volume, it could be very harmful for the maple syrup industry. The companies that are working in this industry will have to compete with some company that didn’t pay for the maple syrup.”

Quebec produces between 70 and 80 per cent of the world’s maple syrup, with the bulk of export sales taking place in the United States, according to the federation.

The warehouse where the theft occured was a temporary location, and the federation was preparing to move the now-stolen maple syrup to a new location.

Sylvain Charlebois, who researches food policy at the University of Guelph, said any disruption in the maple syrup supply could damage hard-earned gains the industry has made in global markets. The federation has been working particularly hard to build a market for the product in Asia, where it’s less well known. “If they’re not concerned, they should be,” he said of the federation. “This is such a fragile industry, and any loss on the supply side could be devastating.”

He said it’s very difficult to trace and track maple syrup, so catching an illegitimate seller could be a significant challenge. “It is going to be problematic, one way or the other, whether it’s to sell through proper channels or dealing with the black market,” he said.

Ms. Granger Godbout said the organization is still determining just how much syrup went missing. “It’s a very long process ... we have to weigh every barrel to know the exact quantity.”

But she said there’s no need to worry about finding enough of the treat at grocery stores and farmers’ markets. “We still have enough maple syrup. There will be no shortage,” she said.

spud
08-31-2012, 11:07 PM
Hey maybe the guy's selling syrup for $20.00 a gallon on the side of the road no something.:lol:

Spud

Tithis
09-01-2012, 12:29 AM
Some friends and I were on our way home from bowling when this came on the radio. Had a few laughs thinking of a properly Canadian punishment for grand theft syrup. I thought being tied to a post in front of a slap shot hockey squad would be good.

Thad Blaisdell
09-01-2012, 06:49 AM
Hey maybe the guy's selling syrup for $20.00 a gallon on the side of the road no something.:lol:

Spud

Its all in a tanker truck, sign says bring your own container.

220 maple
09-01-2012, 07:23 AM
My son e-mailed this story yesterday mourning, he guessed that I probably already knew about it from the Mapletrader messageboard. The article he sent me had 203 comments. Some was quite funny, however some had a tinge of anger! Basically they was upset that the price of wholesale syrup is 3 dollars a pound, they feel they are being ripped off when buying a jug of syrup.

Mark 220 Maple

Randy Brutkoski
09-01-2012, 02:00 PM
Did they get enought to make the bulk price go up.

Mark
09-01-2012, 05:16 PM
Any word on the actual amount stolen? It seems like all the articles talk about how much the place holds not what was actually taken. You can only get about 4 thousand gallons on a semi. If it was a very large amount you would think it happened over a longer period of time.

batsofbedlam
09-02-2012, 03:27 PM
Don't believe everything you read. It looks like an inside job to scam the insurance company.

noreast maple
09-02-2012, 07:24 PM
Dont make much sense to me to think that its a scam on ins. co. when its your own ins. co.

Waynehere
09-03-2012, 08:25 AM
This is on CNN.

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/08/31/millions-of-dollars-in-maple-syrup-stolen/?hpt=hp_t3

Indiana-Jones
09-06-2012, 10:19 AM
Good Morning, my son and fellow syrup head sent me this link to a chat room site that he hangs out at. This is a link to a thread that contains some Canadians poking fun at the missing syrup. I enjoyed their humor and if you don't find it funny I'm so very sorry, very sorry.

http://www.reddit.com/r/canada/comments/z8606/the_man_who_robbed_the_strategic_syrup_reserve/c62eqyg

ennismaple
09-06-2012, 01:20 PM
I might need to change my underwear from laughing so hard!

tuckermtn
09-06-2012, 09:41 PM
it got a very good laugh in this house hold of canadian wanna-bes as well.

GeneralStark
09-07-2012, 09:41 AM
I especially like the idea of a maple syrup tank with multiple taps throughout one's house.

PapaSmiff
09-07-2012, 11:13 AM
How do I tap into that trans-Canada maple syrup pipleline, described in the blog Indiana-Jones posted?
http://www.reddit.com/r/canada/comme...eserve/c62eqyg

Indiana-Jones
09-07-2012, 03:10 PM
How do I tap into that trans-Canada maple syrup pipleline, described in the blog Indiana-Jones posted?
http://www.reddit.com/r/canada/comme...eserve/c62eqyg

PapaSmiff, I'm guessing tapping into the Trans-Canada Maple Syrup pipeline would require you moving from Massachusetts to a more northern location or a very long hose.
Maybe we can get a national American pipeline constructed? Call your Congressman and explain that it is a matter of national security to get a syrup pipeline built. What if al-qada is behind the big Canadian maple heist and America is not prepared. Think of the children.

Flat Lander Sugaring
12-19-2012, 05:48 AM
http://www.wcax.com/story/20379870/three-arrested-in-major-maple-syrup-heist

Maplehobbyist
12-20-2012, 05:45 PM
... I enjoyed their humor and if you don't find it funny I'm so very sorry, very sorry.

How could one not find that funny?

Hilarity, civility and intelligence, what more could one ask from postings in a forum? Three cheers for the Canadians, may we all become more like them.

I, too, am off to change my shorts.