Lowering Maple Sugar costs

[maplenomad]

Hey Everyone,

I own a chocolate company that uses Organic Maple Sugar instead of Cane Sugar.
Its carmalized sweetness works so well with chocolate !!

Currently we are purchasing a 2 tons at a time from the largest Maple wholesaler in the US for $6.00/lb

As we continue to scale our business using distributers and other middle men our profit margins are thining out and sugar is our most expensive ingredient. We have thought about purchasing maple syrup and processing it ourselves (floor mixer method) but our Maple Syrup supplier cannot guarantee low invert sugar content which I have been told is necessary in making sugar.

Any ideas on how we could procure less expensive sugar or make it ourselves would be much appreciated.

All the best,
L

[maple maniac65]

I guess I would first ask how often do you order. Next I would suggest putting it out to bid. The biggest isn't always the best deal. McClure in Littleton NH sells bulk syrup and the invert sugar is marked on the containers.

[wiam]

Another thing you need to know. 1 lb of syrup makes .7 lb of sugar. So on one ton order you would shipping an extra 800 lb of water plus stainless drums.

[PerryFamily]

I’m not sure how the cost compares to other suppliers but if I was you I’d look into buying more at one time. If it’s coming from Bascoms I’d consider calling BDR transport in Bellows Falls on the shipping. They have Terminals in California and are 20 minutes from Bascoms . I’m sure could do really well on the shipping.

[minehart gap]

If your supplier is in the northeast, you might look at reducing shipping costs by dealing with someone closer to you. Maybe Michigan or Wisconsin.

[Moser's Maple]

Is it just me or is $6.00/lb for granulated sugar already a dirt cheap price?? Honestly how much do we want to dumb down the price of maple?

[psparr]

I was going to refer him to the maple syrup poem.

[maplenomad]

We are purchasing from Bascom. Thanks so much for that very tip on shipping !



I’m not sure how the cost compares to other suppliers but if I was you I’d look into buying more at one time. If it’s coming from Bascoms I’d consider calling BDR transport in Bellows Falls on the shipping. They have Terminals in California and are 20 minutes from Bascoms . I’m sure could do really well on the shipping.

[maplenomad]

Id love to hear it.


I was going to refer him to the maple syrup poem.

[maplenomad]

Compared to other sugars ( Coconut, Cane, etc) it is astronomically expensive. We can purchase organic coconut sugar for about a $1/lb.



Is it just me or is $6.00/lb for granulated sugar already a dirt cheap price?? Honestly how much do we want to dumb down the price of maple?

[Louie]

Just wait a few more months and it might be cheap. Another good year and the price might go through the floor.

[maplenomad]

Luckily our supplier has a warehouse in California so shipping heavy syrup wouldnt be an issue.

Converting the syrup to sugar in large amounts is intimidating. I have been struggling to find good information online about the process on a commercial level.
We have played around with cookign the sugar on a stove top and then agitating it in a kitchen mixer with good results but boiling 100's of lbs of syrup a whole other story



Another thing you need to know. 1 lb of syrup makes .7 lb of sugar. So on one ton order you would shipping an extra 800 lb of water plus stainless drums.

[Louie]

There are lots of trees available. Buy some and set up to make your own.


Compared to other sugars ( Coconut, Cane, etc) it is astronomically expensive. We can purchase organic coconut sugar for about a $1/lb.

[maplenomad]

Hey Louie, my name is also Louie :)

We will have to wait and see.

Have you heard of any developments with row cropping saplings and using vacum systems to draw sap? Someone told me of this new way to make syrup.


Just wait a few more months and it might be cheap. Another good year and the price might go through the floor.

[Moser's Maple]

Compared to other sugars ( Coconut, Cane, etc) it is astronomically expensive. We can purchase organic coconut sugar for about a $1/lb.
No offense but comparing those sugars to maple is like comparing a Ford Focus to a Lamborghini.
Here's a nice read
https://draxe.com/maple-syrup-nutrition/

[psparr]

https://youtu.be/EqreE_O6mBU

[barnbc76]

I am only a hobbyist so I can't give any advice on much of the maple stuff, but I would be very cautious in making dramatic changes to my business to achieve marginally lower costs. You are already assessing whether it is possible to get lower costs just don't lose sight of your original purpose and expertise of your business. This may not be an issue for you but someone I know gets carried away with business ideas that were no where close to being practical or likely to make enough money in a hundred years to think it is a good idea.

[johnallin]

Seems to me that at $6 per lb they're paying about $66 per gallon. Pretty sweet deal from what I can see. The biggest gain will come from reigning in shipping costs.

[Mark]

Seems to me that at $6 per lb they're paying about $66 per gallon. Pretty sweet deal from what I can see. The biggest gain will come from reigning in shipping costs.
Syrup is 11 pounds a gallon. You only get a little over 7 pounds of sugar from a gallon of syrup.

[maplenomad]

Totally agree with you.

Thanks for the great article


No offense but comparing those sugars to maple is like comparing a Ford Focus to a Lamborghini.
Here's a nice read
https://draxe.com/maple-syrup-nutrition/

[Moser's Maple]

Seems to me that at $6 per lb they're paying about $66 per gallon. Pretty sweet deal from what I can see. The biggest gain will come from reigning in shipping costs.
They are paying $42/ gallon for granulated. Like I said they are getting a pretty good price.

[BAP]

They are paying $42/ gallon for granulated. Like I said they are getting a pretty good price.
Yes, plus it’s already cooked down to sugar which costs money.

[n8hutch]

I agree, I would Gamble that ol Bruce has hedged his bets pretty well. You would be hard pressed to tap your own trees and make your own syrup, boil it down and make it into sugar and show a much of a profit at 6 dollars per lb.
At today's bulk prices he has 3.50lb into the Sugar not counting the costs to refine the syrup into the Sugar.

I guess what I'm trying to say is the Sugar is priced in a manner that it's cheap enough so your not going to have people jumping over each other to take the sales and there is not really enough profit in it that anybody would see much of a return on investment if they tried to make it themselves. I don't mean this in a derogatory way, The Bascoms are very good at what they do, my hats are off to them.

[Mark]

In a book called" The Sugar Season" they talk about a huge maple sugar machine that Bascom made.

[upsmapleman]

Good news bad news. The bad news is that I doubt very much that you can find a better price. Bruce can buy syrup for $20 a gallon or less. Even if you made your own, unless you work directly with a producer I doubt if you could buy syrup for much less than $25 a gallon. You would need to figure about a 10% loss so to make it yourself would be about $4 a lb. You could buy a sugar machine from CDL that makes 17 or 35# per batch. I think they run in excess of 7K. You figure your fuel cost to heat syrup and you need to add wages to make a batch say 2 to 3 hrs from start to finish for a 17# batch and maybe a little more for 35# as you could cook more at the same time.With syrup you would need to buy barrels or pay return shipping. Living so far from the maple industry isn't working in your favor. The good news is my guess is that the price will not increase in the next few years due to the abundance of syrup being made. There is probably not much else that you use that you could count on the price remaining stable.

[Jdfan]

im selling mine for 9.75 a gallon

[markcasper]

im selling mine for 9.75 a gallon

That is the going rate for commercial.

[upsmapleman]

I never had much luck making sugar from commerical. Once it goes past dark robust grade it wil often just stay in a glob and not turn to sugar. I'm sure there are things you can do to change the invert sugar level but it is not worth the bother for me.

[PerryFamily]

I think commercial syrup is what Bascoms make most of their sugar from, but I could be wrong
It would be the best bang for their buck. Buy it cheap, make a decent sugar from it and sell it high. I thought that’s why their sugar machine thingy was top secret. Found a way to make something good from crap. Again, I could be wrong

[maplenomad]

Im pretty sure thats extactly what they do. Would love to know the exact process.




I think commercial syrup is what Bascoms make most of their sugar from, but I could be wrong
It would be the best bang for their buck. Buy it cheap, make a decent sugar from it and sell it high. I thought that’s why their sugar machine thingy was top secret. Found a way to make something good from crap. Again, I could be wrong

[maplenomad]

Would it be possible to bring commerical grade syrup up to a certain point to where there is little to no water content ?

Or would agitation have to be done and steam released turning it into sugar?

My thought was maybe we could add syrup into our chocolate if it had low enought water content.




I never had much luck making sugar from commerical. Once it goes past dark robust grade it wil often just stay in a glob and not turn to sugar. I'm sure there are things you can do to change the invert sugar level but it is not worth the bother for me.

[upsmapleman]

When you cook the syrup up you are taking the water out. When we stir it it breaks apart and turns into sugar. If you don't stir it it will be a big block.Having said that old timers use to pour blocks and when they wanted sugar they would shave off what they wanted. So yes I guess you could play with it and see what you get. Not sure if you just took the syrup up to say 260 and mixed it in with your candy while it is still hot what would happen. I think it would be worth playing with. Not sure what you are trying to do and that would you want to accomplish.