Crown Maple....again

[Thompson's Tree Farm]

Crown Maple got a NY Times article again. Sure wish I was rich enough to buy that kind of publicity

[Dill]

I would say the article does start to poke at him for a change
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/03/dining/tapping-the-sweet-potential-of-maple-syrup.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&src=dayp&

[Run Forest Run!]

The link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/03/dining/tapping-the-sweet-potential-of-maple-syrup.html?pagewanted=all


Oops, Dill beat me to it!

[crawflyer]

Mr. Turner’s syrup is bottled at a higher sugar content: 67 on the Brix measurement scale rather than the standard 66 (or 66.9 in Vermont). It pours with a languor more like that of honey, and tastes softer and richer than the “pure maple syrup” sold in most supermarkets (even the stuff in the nice leaf-shaped bottles).
Bullsh_t...I would put mine up against his any day. and that extra point on the Brix? give me a break. I never bottle mine below 67.

[jrgagne99]

"Crown Maple has one of the largest reverse-osmosis machines in the industry, which allows it to evaporate most of the water from the sap without heating it; the traditional method, fired by a wood stove in a sugarhouse, is to boil it, but that increases the risk that the syrup will burn and turn bitter. "


First of all, RO does not "evaporate" water from the sap, it removes it. Secondly, are we supposed to believe that syrup from oil-fired evaporator tastes any better (or different) than a wood-fired rig? Give me a break.

[crawflyer]

in other words."we would not be able to mass produce our generic-at-best product without state-of-the-art reverse osmosis and fossil fuel."

"Crown Maple has one of the largest reverse-osmosis machines in the industry, which allows it to evaporate most of the water from the sap without heating it; the traditional method, fired by a wood stove in a sugarhouse, is to boil it, but that increases the risk that the syrup will burn and turn bitter. "


First of all, RO does not "evaporate" water from the sap, it removes it. Secondly, are we supposed to believe that syrup from oil-fired evaporator tastes any better (or different) than a wood-fired rig? Give me a break.

[PerryW]

Looks like he's trying to appeal to a niche market. I like to think that us Maple Producers can make a profit without criticizing other producers, though I suspect the reporter may have some of the blame there (like getting some of the facts wrong).

I like to think my method is better for the environment because I use mostly waste wood (softwood slabs and pine tops) for fuel instead of OPEC Oil and Electricity from Coal; but I do not badmouth other producers who choosr to use modern methods.

[Snowy Pass Maple]

This has been a consistent talking point from Crown - that boiling sap is bad. Not surprising, because they have an RO operating at a very extreme process condition and are thus rationalizing it as better.

I think the best that can come out of this article is to educate consumers that supermarket syrup, bulk packed and blended, is a step down from what many high quality smaller producers are doing. If someone asks me why our stuff costs more than what they can pay at Hannaford, it's easy to explain - that stuff at Hannaford includes all the syrup that sugarmakers deemed not good enough to sell with their own name, and was shipped out as bulk product they didn't want to sell. It then gets blended to meet some minimum standard. I think Mike is right on with that. In our local supermarket, you don't even see medium/light amber - seems that any light syrup the packers get is just used to blend with some darker low grade stuff to end up squeaking more of it by as dark amber. Meanwhile, we'll offer a variety of grades, each with their own unique characteristics.

I wish that some of the other folks quoted in these articles could seize the opportunity in this press blitz to begin educating people that there are many more producers than Crown who are making a really fine quality product. I also finish to 67 Brix. I guess I should be marketing that more!

Crown is fond of wine analogies - I see them as the "Gallo" or "Berringer" of maple... huge industrial output, consistent, predictable product - but not nearly as fun as going through Napa and stumbling into countless little wineries making truly extraordinary products. That's the opportunity for smaller producers - to get people thinking with that mindset.

[not_for_sale]

I don't understand what the whining is all about. There is not that much money involved to get an op-ed from any paper anywhere. Including the New York Times.

You can get the same coverage in your market, you just got to look up from the evaporator, quit only thinking about the product and start thinking about public relations and marketing.

It just takes a mind that is business focused. Why can't you just accept that Crown Maple wants to differentiate themselves by what they do, and of course en push those points as being the most important.

[DrTimPerkins]

- that stuff at Hannaford includes all the syrup that sugarmakers deemed not good enough to sell with their own name, and was shipped out as bulk product they didn't want to sell.

This is certainly NOT the case with all bulk syrup, and I would argue that it isn't the case with most of the syrup sold in the world. Many producers in some areas sell their entire crop to packers. We do that ourselves (sell bulk) at UVM PMRC simply because we don't want to pay highly educated and qualified technicians to put syrup in bottles and wait for people to come buy it. That just isn't our focus. Similarly, many producers don't bother with retail sales, but rather simply focus on bulk syrup production. This means they don't have to go to the expense of packing and selling their product retail. They get more $ for higher grades of syrup, so they aren't just going for quantity either. So it is definitely not the case that all the syrup in the mass market is poor quality. In fact, I'd say the majority of it is quite good quality. The real low quality syrup that packers get is often not blended (some is for sure), but rather goes to supply the commercial syrup market, where it is used for many different products. Some packers won't even buy the junk syrup unless you sell all or most of your crop to them, and they surely aren't going to pay much for it. The reason you see dark amber syrup on the store shelves is NOT because it is poor quality, but because that is what the retail market and most consumers actually buy. The marketers out there are smart enough to know what to put in front of the consumers. Finally, it isn't common to have a lot of different grades on store shelves because the stores limit the number of SKUs they will carry, or will even charge for shelf space, so putting a lot of variety out there that doesn't sell much is not going to work out well economically.

[Snowy Pass Maple]

Tim -certainly, I agree there is good bulk syrup out there. And it's all way better than corn syrup. So don't get me wrong there... didn't mean to paint all bulk syrup makers with a bad brush. I think I'm referring more to the common thread of people making whatever ropy mess they can way late into the season "because I can always sell it bulk!"

My point was that when you get into a large supply chain maximizing profits, we should expect they are blending in some level of sub-grade syrup to hit the minimum acceptable for a grade. (OK, maybe not all of it...) They're huge businesses and have to deal with tough margins. We've all heard plenty of stories on here about people being disappointed with some of the large packer syrups. (although that is probably relative to what is probably a much higher personal standard they may have after making their own syrup for years) As for dark amber, here too, I don't mean to suggest it ends as poor quality - I suspect part of the reason you see so much of it is that you can blend in a lot more lower grade syrup if you're aiming for dark, and then you can keep prices lower by using more of what is produced. Anyone running an industrial commodity business on that scale would be pressured blend in as much marginal syrup as possible to still meet the minimum grade standard. Other small producers may not take that approach.

With all that dark on the shelves, where do people even get to try a lighter syrup if dark is all that the packers put out? Crown seems to be opening the door to educating people that single source syrup in lighter grades may have more interesting variety and taste than mass packaged blends - which isn't all bad. Maybe now the conversation can be steered more broadly than Crown to open up new interest in people reaching out to a lot more small producers to discover similar variety vs. getting an industrial-scale homogenized blend of dark amber at your local supermarket. For a lot of us that do this on a small scale, that's a great direction for things to go.

I'm starting to think that after food-grade debates, threads about Crown maple are the #2 way to incite a bunch of passionate responses on mapletrader :-)

[PerryW]

Yup, it sure is easier to sneak some off-flavor syrup into a batch of Adark than it is Alight. Also, the supermarket Adark is at the very bottom of the Adark grade; approaching the Grade B color.

I hope the Doctor is right because it is all our best interests (as producers) and stick together to promote our product. The last thing we need is a bunch of off-flavor syrup on the shelves across America.

[mountainvan]

hearing one word from my friends about the taste of the rich dudes syrup, bland. not a good word to describe possibly the purest maple syrup in the world.

[markct]

I think he is going for a different market than most of us, and while some of what is in the article seems a bit distorted that likely is the reporters mistake i think. It is kinda humerous how they describe the aromas etc of there syrups, but hey thats marketing and i see nothing wrong with it. I have right on my label "traditional woodfired" and yea i have an ro too and i know thats modern, but hey it gives folks part of that image my customers want in my opinion! If he wants to make bland syrup and make folks like it then great for him, i hate the taste of most wine but i dont go bashing the whinery that markets it as great stuff! I myself need to step up my marketing and sales efforts as i have way too much syrup in stainless drums on hand! i think he has done a great job of making a market for a huge quanity of syrup in a very short time! Another point i must say is that while his prices are high, i dont think they are that bad for the crowd he is marketing too, i see 12 oz bottles listed on there site for 16 bucks, not too outrageous as some around here sell plastic pints for 16 bucks and a pint is just a bit larger than that. He seems to be drawing a crowd, and i honestly doubt its hurting many of us as i know most of the folks he is marketing to are not likely to come visit my area even if my syrup is cheaper!

[spud]

I agree with everything markct just said. I don't give a Rat's rear end what Crown Maple does or how they market their product. I think Crown Maple's marketing is brilliant and I think there are some here on Trader that would love to be in their shoes.

Spud

[SPILEDRIVER]

heres something of interest....the article states that crown finishes there syrup to 67brix which they state is a higher brix than most others........i just visited there website and took a tour which clearly states they finish there syrup at 66 brix and 218 degrees to protect the delicate flavor...........hmmmmm something dont jive there........

[spud]

Yea but it all sounds good into YUPPY ear's. Tell them what they want to hear and then take their money. I'm not saying it is right but for some spandex biker nerd it all sounds good.:)

Spud

[heus]

"Spandex biker nerd" :lol: you forgot granola-eating coffee house-sitting....

[Oddmott]

Don't have to deal with Crowne up here in Ontario... so i've only just started hearing about them and reading about them through you folks. Gotta say, I find them to be both easy to love and easy to hate.

As a tradition-bound small time producer with a ridiculously tight budget (almost everything we sugar with is free, cheap or McGivered), it galls me that someone fell into glorious land and sugaring as, essentially, a "tax dodge".

However, the marketer in me can only applaud their efforts to expand the industry, attract new eyes and try something different.

[markct]

As for it being a tax dodge i see nothing wrong with that. It is agriculture, preserves open space, creates jobs and puts a good bit of money in the local economy! He coulda made a non profit nature preserve and dodged taxes and essentialy contributed nothing to the local economy besides maybe drawing in a few hikers and bird watchers to town! A smart guy with ambition and a vision as most of us have! And fourtanatly has the funds to carry it out!

[SDdave]

“Can you name a brand of maple syrup?” he asked. “It doesn’t exist.”

I object. He obviously hasn't heard of Uncle Dave's Backyard Maple Syrup...:rolleyes:

On the other hand he has played the marketing game to the full extent. What does he get per gallon?

SDdave