Pricing granulated sugar

[sapman]

We've been considering trying our hand at granulated sugar making/selling. But in my research it seems like it sells for too little. I must be missing something, because it seems like it sells for less than the syrup. We estimated that it reduces by close to half, yet it's available online for less than $1/oz., which wouldn't seem to be profitable.

Can someone set me straight?

Thanks,
Tim

[happy thoughts]

wow, that's weird, lol. I *just* finished reading a free downloadable goodie from cornell about maple confections. There is a section on pricing here:

http://maple.dnr.cornell.edu/pubs/confections/Confection%20Notebook%20section8.pdf.

This is an older publication but still has lots of useful info. You'll have to adjust prices for a gallon of syrup, labor etc. upward but it gives you a good idea on how to base costs on many different confections including sugar.

Other sections of the book are available here:
http://maple.dnr.cornell.edu/pubs/confections/index.htm

Just about everything you need to know about maple confections and how to make them and also a section on marketing and developing logos for your products.

[spencer11]

A local place sells it for $1.25 an ounce, so that's what I'm selling mine for, might go to $1.50 sometime soon cause everything is getting more expensive

[Run Forest Run!]

I've bought pure maple sugar on several occasions from Costco. They sell a 500 g bag (that's 1.1 lb) for about $12.99. I can't remember the exact price, but I remember thinking that it seemed really inexpensive considering all the sap it must take to make one bag.

[maple marc]

Tim, I know what you mean. We sell a lot of maple confections in addition to syrup. We took the great course from Steve Childs, which I highly recommend. I buy into just about everything he says about value-added products--cream, candy, nuts, cotton candy--except sugar. I can't find a price where I make money and the customer finds value.

Marc

[sapman]

Thanks everyone for responding. Not sure why so many offer it if it's not that profitable, so I still wonder how they do it. But for us, it doesn't seem worth the effort, I guess. Good stuff, though!

[spud]

I thought someone told me one time that maple sugar was made out of dark nasty tasting syrup. If this is the case then maybe the sugar is based on value of commercial grade syrup and not Grade A. I was told that nasty tasting syrup (like the stuff made at the end of last season) works great for sugar and it takes the bad taste right out. If this is the case then maybe it would be worth making sugar at the end of the season.

Spud

[spencer11]

I thought someone told me one time that maple sugar was made out of dark nasty tasting syrup. If this is the case then maybe the sugar is based on value of commercial grade syrup and not Grade A. I was told that nasty tasting syrup (like the stuff made at the end of last season) works great for sugar and it takes the bad taste right out. If this is the case then maybe it would be worth making sugar at the end of the season.

Spud
I think that may be true, cause last year I made so nasty tasting syrup so I made it into sugar and it tasted fine, so that might be a good use of the bad stuff

[upsmapleman]

Not sure how much you get for syrup but it must be a lot if you can't make money at a dollar a oz. First you use late run syrup which most sell for $2 a pound, or $22 a gallon. A gallon of syrup will make 7# of sugar. 7X16=$112 a $90 increase not bad for a hour of work. This is how I see it.

[spud]

Not sure how much you get for syrup but it must be a lot if you can't make money at a dollar a oz. First you use late run syrup which most sell for $2 a pound, or $22 a gallon. A gallon of syrup will make 7# of sugar. 7X16=$112 a $90 increase not bad for a hour of work. This is how I see it.

I would agree with you on that for sure. It seems like a lot of people want to make a killing on their product or nothing at all.

Spud

[maple2]

it takes us a bit longer than an hour to make a batch. almost an hour of cooking time.[265] stirring, sifting, we spread on sheets to dry overnite. package and label the next morning.then clean up the mess afterwards.[ my wife gets carried away with the sifting] we get $1.25 an ounce

[maple marc]

"I can't find a price where I make money and the customer finds value."

As I stated above, it's all about finding the right price for you and your customers. I sell molded candies for $1/oz, cream for more than that. I'm happy, the customers are happy. But with sugar, it just doesn't seem to have the appeal to them at $1/oz. I think they're comparing it to brown sugar in the back of their mind. Hey, if you can sell it there, I say right on!

And if you're selling "late run" syrup for only $22/gallon, you can do better than that. A little marketing and a fancy bottle will sell your "special late season dark" for $100/gallon. Ask Martha Stewart.

Marc

[spencer11]

When I was selling at a cafe in town yesterday I sold 10 small shakers at $1.25 an ounce over the course if the day, everyone was wondering what it was, if anything it's a great conversation starter so they might buy something else

[Dave Y]

Bulk syrup is around $30 gal. You get aproxamatley 8lbs of sugar per gal of syrup so you need to recoup the cost of syrup and your time making the sugar and the extra packaging. Plus you need to make a profit. With all of those things in mind I sell maple sugar for $8.50lbs and a 5.5 oz shaker for $4,Plus you need to educate your customers.

[markct]

If memory serves me correct when i bought a 5lb bag of it from bascoms it was about 35 bucks, so that would be around 43 cents a oz, that being a bulk price basicly, so i would think that at a buck and oz it should be profitable indeed, they arnt making it at a loss!

[Run Forest Run!]

While quickly whipping through Costco (after two propane tank refills) I noticed that they had a sale on the maple sugar - $4 off a bag. They wanted $6.49 for a one pound bag. Knowing how much work goes into sugaring I actually felt bad, but not bad enough to not buy two.

[sapman]

OK, this is making a lot more sense now. I had a major math problem. I was trying to get my wife to tell me how much syrup she used in her little 10 oz. batch. We worst cased it at around a quart, which was obviously way off. So I can see where it is profitable, even with higher quality syrup. And at our open house, we sold all she made, at a decent price!